NVL Division 1, 4 November 2006
University of Bristol
City of Bristol v Warwick Riga
3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17)
Match Report by John Gilling
Last season Riga came to Bristol with a depleted squad and were beaten convincingly by an eager Bristol. However on the return leg Riga returned the favour and ended the season 1 and 1. This season Bristol remain undefeated, so Riga aim to inflict Bristol’s first defeat and in turn set themselves up to climbing back to the top half of the table.
Riga started off the match on the back foot gifting Bristol 3 consecutive points resulting in Bristol’s 6-3 lead. Riga fought back with some good offensive play until mid-way through the set and lead by a point at 11-12. With some consistent blocking and serving Bristol forged ahead and developed another 3 point advantage. Their lead was maintained and improved upon and Bristol eventually won the set 25-16.
The second set started out more consistently for the two teams but yet again Bristol edged the lead at 11-9. More continued pressure from Bristol with good defensive and transitional play quickly increased their lead to 16-10. An impressive standing block from setter Wyles allowed Riga an additional three touches and was put away quite sweetly by Riga’s outside hitter. However, this gutsy play from Riga was short lived and even following Riga’s substitutions and their allotted time-outs, Bristol still maintained their 6 point advantage but with a one or two point fluctuation and ended the set on a high at 25-19.
In what amounted to be the final set for Riga. They still seemed to be demoralised from the previous two sets and couldn’t lift their performance and consistency. Early on Bristol fought to a 10-6 lead. Riga’s confidence slipped but Bristol’s only continued to rise and Bristol won the final set 25-17.
In conclusion Bristol proved too strong for Riga and were deserved victors on this occasion. The MVP for Bristol was Jiri Petrash and for Riga Phil Wyles. Listening to ‘pink’ on the 2 hour journey back home, one of the tracks played was…. “I’m not dead just floating”…..seemed to sum up Riga’s efforts tonight. Riga need to be alive and swimming hard in their next match against Guildford in the cup, which should act as a spring board for their forthcoming league matches. So on a happier note there is only one way to go now and that is up. Riga will look forward to the return match in March at the Alan Higgs Centre.
Riga Squad: Anderson (NZ), Anderson (UK), Gilling, De Hoogh, Hudson, Minotti, Morawski, Stroo, Turnbull, Molinari, Coach: Young, Captain: Wyles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|