NVL Division Three (North) |
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Report written by Chris Jones |
The men’s second team travelled all the way up to Middlesbrough for their first test of the new season. With some members of the squad having to leave home at 6am with over a 400 mile round journey it was never going to be a short day! After a somewhat eventful journey where we learnt that Tom Young (jnr) may well be colour blind as well as not knowing the difference between an Audi and a VW, northern lorry drivers are suicidal maniac’s and to never trust new team signing Paul’s sat nav. After loosing Paul we looked towards Steve and his magic iPhone which got us within spitting distance of the venue but sadly this saw our next challenge of trying to cross a closed transporter bridge! We managed to find our way round and still be ready with plenty of time before warm-up. Stand in coach Rodney had a relatively large squad (by last years standards anyways), which was bolstered by Piotr and Dan from the men’s first team, and new signings Paul and Al also making there first appearance in a Riga kit. The first match was versus Middlesbrough College 2, who were considerably younger and more awake than Riga but with this said Riga were trading points consistently, with some strong attacking and blocking by the Riga front court. However a good run of serves by Middlesbrough proved decisive with Riga leaving it too late to close the small gap that had been opened eventually going down 25:22. After a solid first set performance and the early morning drive long behind them Riga were determined to continue to take the game to their opposition, Dan and Piotr both started the second set and were soon blocking out the unsuspecting Middlesbrough hitters. Rodney was also making good use of his bench bringing on Bart for Steve to change the setting slightly and give Middlesbrough something else to think about. It was however a familiar tale and a short run of serves, just like in the first set proved to be enough to see Middlesbrough edge the set 25:21. Riga started the third set very strongly with some great serving by new signing Paul, combined with some great setting distribution from Bart and strong hitting by Piotr soon saw Riga with a slim lead. Middlesbrough however responded to this and changed up their play slightly and perhaps it was Riga’s lack of match practice and a few new faces but they let Middlesbrough claw their way back into the set, before letting them take the third and final set 25:22 If Riga were to get anything from their massive 400 mile hike it now had to be the second match against Chester. Having played well in the first match, expectations were high and Riga were determined not to have made the journey in vein. The first set against Chester was a different kind of game than the previous match but was following a similar pattern, with points between the two teams being traded. Some good passing allowed Bart to have a number of hitting options, which soon saw Riga having set point but a good time-out by Chester saw it slip away. But soon Riga had another and not to make the same mistake twice closed the set out 26:24. Riga started strongly on the back of their one set lead in the second; with Dan dominating the net, Riga saw themselves with an early lead. However things are never easy and the entire squad managed to all serve out or in the net one after each other for an entire rotation, as I went back to serve he heard Rodney call from the bench “You started this, now you finish it”. Never being one to argue with a Scotsman, I promptly finished the serving rot as requested (if only he had of asked sooner!!) Luckily we had already done enough and despite loosing 6 points in a row through service errors closed the set out 25:20 to take a 2 nil lead. The start of the third set saw Riga determined to get on the road and head back down south nice and early, but Chester had other ideas and started to put up with a very good fight. Rodney was able to make use of his substitutions with Dan coming on for Al, after some great front court work and defensive play on his début for Riga. Tom was making an good job of playing opposite, not only making some good blocks and attacks but also providing some great sets when needed for Chris and Piotr to convert through four. But some very good serving from Chester saw the Riga pass starting to wobble (again) and they took full advantage of the subsequent weakened attack and were able to draw a set back. Well having travelled all that way Riga wanted value for money so it was onto the fourth set. Some strong serving by Riga allowed them to pull away with an early lead but sadly they were not the only team who wanted to serve hard and Chester soon starting clawing back points. A good time out at 21:23 down, saw Riga draw things level at 23 all but that was as far as it went with Chester winning the set 25:23. It was Riga’s first 5 set thriller of the season! With all the squad having been up since 6am and 7 sets under their belt (and some members having played 5 sets the day before) the 5th set was not a welcome prospect. But that is where we found ourselves and having won the toss Riga made the most of the situation, some great front court play from Paul saw Riga with their noses ahead at the switch of ends 8:6. Having been in this position a few times last season and letting things slip we were not home and dry yet. Tom produced a fantastic serving display to extend Riga’s lead to 5 points and in sight of the finish line. The team pulled together and traded points with Chester finally winning the set 15:9. Well done to Piotr and Bart for their MVP’s. Welcome to Al and Paul – hope you guys enjoyed your first Riga outing!! Thanks to Dan and Piotr for making the trip up with us and helping out the squad in light of some of the M2 squad still being overseas or injured. Finally a big thanks to women’s 2 coach Rodney for giving up his Sunday (and Monday for training) to help us out! |
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