Riga Ladies 1st Team (28/11/2005)
Its proving to be a bit of a rocky ride for Riga so far this season. After a promising start beating Tameside and Polonia and coming close to a 5 setter against Malory, the girls have experienced a bad run of games. The rot set in with Wessex, losing 3-1 in a game Riga should have had in the bag, but too many unforced errors gave the young Wessex girls the winning opportunities to clinch, what were, very tight sets. With only 8 registered players at that point, and Captain Sally Keates being away, Jules had to play off setter, which obviously weakened the Riga defence and proved a telling difference in a close match.
Attempts to rearrange the Portsmouth fixture due to the clash with the Guernsey Tournament (Liz, Nicky and Tom were away playing for Anglesey) were quashed by the EVA and so Riga were forced to play the game with only 6 players and stand in Coach John Gilling. Yaprak Tiknaz re-joined the team as a one off to help the girls out of a dire situation. The girls put in a massive performance, Yaprak and Laura in particular were 'awesome' out at 4. But the experience of the older Portsmouth team won over in a final fifth set 15-12.
Light relief came in the form of non National League York in Round 2 of the KO Cup. Riga disposed of the spirited Northerners in less than an hour 3 - 0 and now go on to meet Ashcombe away which will be a big challenge. Ashcombe look set to make a swift return to 1st division having only dropped one game so far this season and with their experience and team spirit, they are always difficult and wily opponents.
Last Sunday saw the girls away to Loughborough, who have had mixed results so far this season. Having got the first set confidently under their belts 25-18, and leading 6 - 2 in the second, Riga were on a roll...or so we thought. A hasty time out, saw Loughborough re-group and began to put Riga under considerable pressure with their deep, dipping serves. Riga managed to claw back and draw level after a major wobble. But at 22 -22, crucial hits went wide of the backline giving Loughborough back the advantage which they capitalised on and closed the set 25 - 22.
The next set saw a gigantuous Riga collapse. The pass went completely and before the girls knew it they were an embarrassing 16 - 5 down. Tom Young made a couple of substitutions in desperation to quell the Loughborough onslaught, bring Liz and Laura on. But still Riga couldn't return the serve and only managed one more point before Loughborough ran away with the set 25 - 6.
At 12 - 5 down in the 4th set it looked like another calamity but somehow Riga clawed it back thanks to some penetrating serving from Alex, Nicky and Sal. Riga managed to regain some rhythm and drew level 22 - 22. Kelly had started to find her form again and Alex made some crucial spikes. But then the prospect of a 5th set was quickly snatched away as Loughborough sided out and then the Riga defence shanked the next two passes making it impossible for Lisa to retrieve the ball and Loughborough started celebrating.
This now means that the next two games against bottom of the table Dulwich and Salford are absolutely crucial in order for Riga to move out of the relegation zone. Tom Young is still positive about the situation. 'We've had a bad run of games and the fact that we've a small squad is starting to tell. But all we need are the next few games in the bag and then we've got a good run of home matches after Xmas. We just need to re-group'.
Liz Young