New Signing Eases Riga's Injury Bombshell

Prosport NVL Division One, 25th September 2004
Wessex 1 Warwick Riga I 3 (25-14 23-25 18-25 19-25)

What a week its been for the 1st team ladies! Still on a high from their convincing win at Tonbridge, the team have added more strength to the ranks with the acquisition of outside hitter Kelly Jones, formerly of 2nd division Mavericks. 23 year old Kelly had been in conflab with the Riga Coach during the summer and decided to take the plunge to further her own development as a player, even though it means a 4 hour round trip to training!!

Her signing was very timely given that Yaprak was away in Germany and therefore missing this weekend's game.

She made an immediate impact on Saturday down in Wessex, but unfortunately Gulshan also made an impact of a different kind resulting in a dislocated knee at the start of the second set. The game was halted for almost 45 minutes as the players and then the paramedics attended to a distressed Gulshan. The knee cap was popped back into place and she was then whisked away to the local hospital for an x ray and further treatment.

Gulshan : Out of game with dislocated knee

The girls then had to re-group, quickly warm up again and try to put the events of the last hour out of their minds. Rachael came on through 2. The team then focused on levelling the game having lost the first set to 14.

Riga rose to the challenge with a new determination. The Riga block found their shape, taking Wessex's main outside hitter, who had caused them so many problems in the first set, out of the game. Sally and Kelly were strong out at 4 and had the opposition working flat out in defence. Riga clinched the set to 23 giving them a much needed burst of confidence.

Wessex was rattled and Riga piled on the pressure. Nicky Jones let nothing go past her in the middle and when Wessex did side out Jules made sure the ball in was perfect. Laura Hodgkinson put in a good all round performance particularly with her low, hard serving. Coming on for Liz, Lisa put in a steady performance, giving the hitters plenty of opportunity to penetrate the Wessex faltering defence. The third set went Riga's way to 18.

Sally : Voted Player of Match by Wessex players

In the fourth set Riga were on a mission to finish the match. Again the blocking was key as was the cover when the ball did manage to get through. A run of serving from Laura and Sally (Wessex's Player of the Match) gave Riga a comfortable lead allowing the team to play freely and secure their second win of the season.

Tom Young said after the game 'The girls did brilliantly under very difficult circumstances. It was great the way Kelly fitted in and also makes the point that we are not a one-woman team even though Yaprak is probably the best player in the women's national league. We have a strong squad of players now which allows me to experiment and make changes to respond to situations like today's'.

Riga is now second in the league to Malory and next up is a much depleted Ashcombe on 9th October at home, who lost to fellow promotees, Tameside at the weekend. The future is bright....!

Gulshan is recovering at home and it looks like there is no permanent damage at this stage although she's going for further checks this week. Sally, who was driving, Marinella (who had come to support), Gulshan and son Mahmood, arrived home in the early hours thanks to the 'helpful' staff at Poole General! Hopefully she'll be back for the Ashcombe game.

Liz Young