(31/03/2001)
Riga Men achieved their highest placing in National League Division One at the weekend when victory over Egham combined with two successive defeats for Stoke saw the local side rise to an unprecedented fourth in the table. "I said at the start of the season we had the ability and potential to be a top four team," said an ecstatic captain Tom Young on Sunday," and despite a few desperate times, we’ve shown we are. Now it’s on to Sheffield for the Shield." The side’s season climaxes with a repeat trip to Yorkshire and their bid to retain the Shield title they won last year. The match will be an even more robust test of the team’s new-found status as for the first time they will enter the match as favourites. Opponents Liverpool, defeated finalists last year, have only just escaped relegation form Division One and so the onus will be on Warwick to come away with another Shield victory to their name.
Despite the importance of the Stoke results, Riga needed to maintain the pressure on the Potteries side by winning at the already relegated Egham on Saturday. The side travelled south deprived of both Dan Showler and Mark Fearn due to work commitments. The absence of Fearn was a particular blow as his defensive expertise has been a revelation for the team this season.
The match opened with Egham benefiting from some early Warwick edginess but Young soon calmed his troops and Riga assumed the lead. John Gilling and Kees de Hoogh also caught the eye as the visitors progressively drew away from a hapless Egham whose interest in the first set died at 25 - 18. Set two found Warwick still basking in the glory of the first and consequently behind to a lively home side. A sustained spell of power serving from Gilling soon had the sanity restored as the score changed from 3 - 6 to 13 - 6 in short order. With Tom Spijkers now proving a thorn in his old team’s side and compounded by Egham errors, the set closed 25 - 15, courtesy of two bombshell finishes from man-of-the-match Gilling.
Riga again allowed Egham an unwarranted advantage in the third set and struggled to make consistent inroads into the home side’s lead. It took more astute serving, this time from de Hoogh, to open up the lead that Warwick were looking for. When Gilling made it 24 - 17, the match was effectively over and with one final Egham mistake so was the set 25 - 18." I don’t think we were really troubled for two sets," said skipper Young after the match. "The third we allowed them too much but it was a comfortable win in the end and very pleasing given the players we had missing."
Barring injury, the team will be at full strength for the Shield clash next Saturday in Sheffield against Liverpool. Unlike last season, when the Scousers - Cup Finalists two seasons ago - were the favourites to take the inaugural Shield title, Riga begin the match in pole position. Two victories over Liverpool this season, one as recently as a fortnight ago, confirm Warwick’s status as this season’s favourites. It’s an unusual experience but captain Tom Young is aware of the pitfalls. "We need to be at the top of our game next Saturday. A one-off game is anybody’s. It can turn on a missed chance or a bad decision. I’m under no illusions about it. We’ve got to work and work hard to get that victory - that’s what I’ll be impressing on everyone during this week."
The Women’s Division Two side were left with a lot to think about during their close season as they experienced a three-nil drubbing at the hands of Loughborough on Sunday at the St. Nicholas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick. "It was a typical end of season game for us," said captain Rachel McCarthy afterwards. "We’re safe and that’s all that matters but if we are to emulate the Men, we’ll have to buck up our ideas next season."