(29/09/2001)
Riga bounced back from their three-nil defeat against last season's National League Division One title holders, Malory, to record their first victory of the new term at the St. Nicholas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick, on Saturday. The victims were City of Salford who, despite giving their hosts a scare by taking the second set, were made to look distinctly second-best by the end of the fourth. Riga entered the match without the services of both Richard Meade and Mark Fearn. The absence of the latter gave Colin Patterson the opportunity to make his debut for the club in the libero role. The opening set had Riga giving short shrift to their visitors, who had arrived late for the match due to traffic hold-ups. Salford's lack of preparation was made to pay as the home side's 9 - 3 advantage was stretched to 18 - 9. Captain Tom Young, Kees de Hoogh and Tom Spijkers were all prominent for the home side as Phil Wyles orchestrated a free-flowing attack. An injury to Salford captain Johnny Goodall forced him to retire from the game but by then the writing was on the wall. At 25 - 15, the set was over.
The change of ends was soon reflected in a change in Salford's fortunes as the second set commenced. Riga, lulled by a comfortable first set, started too relaxed and through a combination of slackness and inspired Salford play were never able to establish their authority over the set. When the visitors shot 21 - 16 into the lead, the writing was now on the other wall. Despite the efforts of John Gilling and de Hoogh, there was no escape from the 21 - 25 defeat. The introduction of Richard Dvorsky for Salford had been their turning point and when he almost single-handedly cancelled out a 4 - 1 Riga lead in the third set, the home crowd became apprehensive. However, with Spijkers on service and Young the scourge, the home side once again raced away with the lead. As the score grew in short order from 5 apiece to 15 - 6 in Riga's favour, Salford's only hope became the prodigious Dvorsky. But with the home side able to score points from around the whole court, the Salford saviour was left with a huge task. At 25 - 15, even Hercules would have had to admit defeat.After early sparring, the fourth set became another Riga canter. David Nason led the way with some superb serving that left Salford with few options and those available were quickly snuffed out by a robust Riga defence. Frustration grew on the Salford side and they compounded their plight as a flurry of yellow cards punished their outbursts. Salford's fate was eventually sealed at 25 - 14.
"It was good to get that one under our belt," said captain Tom Young after the match. "We paid the price for being a bit too relaxed in the second set but we bounced back well. It was a good all round performance from us - and I'm sure we'll get better!" Riga take to the road for their next match when they visit Stoke on Saturday. Until March this year, Riga had never beaten Stoke in Division One and to compound Stoke's misery, their West Midlands rivals pipped them to fourth place. Revenge will very much be in the air for next week's clash. "The Stoke game is another marker for us," notes Young. "We did really well to beat them up there last year with a skeleton squad. This year will be different - for all the right reasons!"