Rugby Academy | Macau Bats U9, U10 teams promoted to Hong Kong top division

The Macau Bats participated last week in the Valley Fort rugby festival held at Sandy Bay in Hong Kong. A glorious sunny day was the backdrop for another enjoyable and generally successful round of matches for the Bats. The U7s team were first up and were involved in two high scoring games with the Bats going down 3-4 to East Kowloon and 4-6 to Sai Kung Stingrays. Two tough games against HK Football Club and Sandy Bay followed and despite the defeats valuable tournament experience was gained.

The under 8s had a group of tight games, winning 3-2 against Flying Kukris and 2-1 against the Discovery Bay Pirates, a very creditable 4-4 draw against Sandy Bay and a 2-4 loss against HK Football Club.

The U9s and U10s teams continued their fine form with both teams posting four wins. The U9s beat Tsuen Wan Rhinos 7-0, Causewaybay Monkeys 5-1, Discovery Bay Pirates 4-3 and HK Football Club 6-0. The U9s remain unbeaten for the season so far.

U10s similarly recorded a set of impressive wins, USRC Tigers 10-0, Discovery Bay Pirates 6-0, Tung Chung 7-0 and Sai Kung Stingrays 2-1. The U10s have a record of played 16, won 16 for the season. Given the impressive performance of the U9 and U10 teams both have been promoted to the top division in Hong Kong for their age groups. No doubt the next festival will be more difficult.

The U12s played another round of the Richard Hawkes Cup at Happy Valley, losing narrowly 2-1 to a strong USRC Tigers and 3-2 against Flying Kukris. However, the team fought back to record a 3-0 win against Tung Chung and a 1-1 draw against HK Football Club. The results means that the Bats will continue to play in the Plate competition.

Meanwhile the U16s were playing against HK Football Club at Tai-Po. The Football Club established a 10-0 lead at half-time and despite a comeback which saw the Kukris/ Pirates/ Bats team lead 14-10 in the second half, HKFC ran out winners by 29-14. Donald Shaw, Hong Kong, Special to MDT