Men’s 2nd team see light at the end of the tunnel
NVL Division 2, 27 September 2007
Warwick Riga vs Leeds
1 – 3 (19-25, 25-21, 17-25, 17-25)
Match Report by Andy Collins
Riga men's 2 played host to Leeds on Saturday and despite showing signs of improvement lost to an experienced side. The 1st set started well with Warwick matching Leeds all the way with more control than in previous matches and a good work rate. Matt Bate and Tom Spikjers were hitting well and causing the Leeds team problems. Towards the end of the set though, maybe a lack of experience and understanding meant the set was lost to 19.
Buoyed by there good play in the 1st set Riga hit the second set running and were never behind. Excellent work in defense, particularly by the middle guys Steve Beasley and Rich Digby meant the ball was being kept alive giving setter Tomasz Morawski a platform to help his hitters put the Leeds team under some pressure. Riga took the 2nd set 25-21.
The 3rd started evenly with neither team gaining an advantage, but it seemed Riga were unable to maintain the work rate and concentration from the 1st 2 sets and a gap started to develop. Tom Young junior was bought on to try stem the tide but the set slipped away to 17.
Tom's positive display from the previous set earned him a start in the 4th but the confidence from the 1st two sets was gone. A strong finish to the set was demanded from the side lines and the team responded valiantly but ultimately the set was gone as was the game.
Despite the loss the team came away feeling they are definitely seeing improvement and with a squad of 11 players at the game, with one or two missing and Tomasz Morawski committing to the second team till the end of the season the squad is feeling positive about turning things round.