Coventry Evening Telegraph, 16th February 1999
| Riga's Women's team experienced mixed fortunes on Sunday in
their National league Division Three fixtures.
They lost their first match to Manchester United by three sets to nil but then bounced back to beat Loughborough in an epic five-set encounter. The local girls found Manchester in fine form and struggled to establish themselves. Having lost the first set 15-10, the second set virtually sealed Riga's fate at 15-7. Despite rallying the side went down 15-11 in the third. Manchester then followed up that success with another. This time over Loughborough by three sets to one. In the final match of the afternoon, Riga emerged victorious after a two and a half hour tussle with Loughborough. The visitors had fought back from two sets down to level the scores, only to succumb to some fine finishing by Riga at the death. "We naturally wanted to win both games to be sure of second place,'' said coach Martin Warman afterwards, "but the important game to win was the one against Loughborough. As both they and Manchester have still to play leaders Cambridge, I think second place and promotion can be ours." Meanwhile Riga's Men's team return to National League Division One action with an important match on Saturday away to Liverpool. With a four-week enforced break and the knowledge that their earlier season defeat by Liverpool sent them into the doldrums, the local side face a test of character and resolve. The back-to-back reverses by Liverpool and Stoke had Riga on the relegation ropes but an uplifting victory against Polonia saw their season start to recover. From then on it has been one success after another and their pre-season aim is now becoming a reality. "We set ourselves the target of finishing mid-table,'' confirms captain Tom Young. Liverpool's a big game for us. A win keeps us on track.."
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