(30/09/2000)
Warwick Riga cruised to their first victory in this season’s National League Division One campaign with a comfortable three-nil demolition of Salford on Saturday at the St. Nicholas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick. The local side never looked likely to fail against the Division One newcomers, who seem set for an early exit from the top flight.
Riga fielded a starting six unchanged from the previous week’s defeat by Polonia and got off to a cracking start. Graham Duckett, Dan Showler and captain Tom Young combined to ease Warwick into an 8 - 1 lead from which Salford never recovered. When David Nason added his backing to Phil Wyles’ orchestration of the home offence, Riga had the set sealed tight at 25 - 12.
Set two opened with an error from each side, but whilst Warwick controlled their performance thereafter, Salford showed their inexperience by compounding theirs. However the visitors did put up a stiffer fight and Riga did not have the freedom they enjoyed in the first set. John Gilling for the home team now rose to prominence and his contribution, especially in the closing stages, confirmed Warwick’s superiority with a 25 - 18 close-out.
The third set started with Riga in a less than fully focused frame of mind. The price they paid was a 6 - 1 deficit. A time-out settled matters and slowly Warwick began the catch-back exercise. The turning point occurred at 12 - 13 to Salford with Richard Meade on service. A powerful Salford attack was met with an acrobatic one-handed pick-up from Meade that sailed over the net and fell into empty space on the Salford court. From then on Riga were back in contention. As Meade continued to be a thorn in the visitor’s side, Young and Duckett wasted no opportunities to see Warwick home 25 - 20.
"It was good to get the first win under our belts," said captain Tom Young after the game. "I was pleased with our performance - games like this can easily go the wrong way if you’re not focused. I think we can get better. I want us to play like the first set every match."
Next weekend sees all three of Riga’s National League teams in action for the first time. The men are away to Wessex on Saturday in National League Division One, whilst the women’s Division Two side are at home to Leeds on Sunday at the St. Nicholas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick (2pm). Finally the women’s Division Three team start their season in East Anglia with matches against Hedley and Cambridge.