The final round of the home and away portion of SCAFL 2011 took place on June 4th 2011.
The Guagzhou Scorpions hosted the undefeated Hong Kong Reds in Guangzhou while the Macau Lightening took onthe Hong Kong Blues in Macau.
Returning to the place they were born, the picturesque ground at Utalhoy International School Zheng Chen, The Scorpions entered the game confident that the return of their front line ruck and a couple of key rovers would give them an edge over the visitors from Hong Kong. This confidence seemed to be well placed in a tight 1st quarter that saw both teams exchange goals with The Scorpions training by only 1 point at the first break. (GZ 3-2-20 vs. HKR 3-3-21)
The second quarter however was a different story. The Hong Kong reds on ballers dominated the center and provided pin point accuracy to their front line who kicked 6 goals before The Scorpions big Man Richy “Tiny” Weisbach pulled one back late into the quarter. MJ, Stutch and Gags all kicking multiple goals in the 2nd quarter to go into the major break with a significant lead 9-7-61 to The Scorpions 4-3-27
The second half saw The Reds continue to dominate through the center where their rovers had all the running and dealt out a football lesson to their less experienced opponents. Despite some strong individual efforts from Nick Anson and Remco Bohre The Scorpions were unable to hold The Reds who out scored them 4 goals to 1 in the third quarter to go into the final break leading 13-8-86 to 4-3-36.
Trailing by 50 points The Scorpions again lifted in the 4th quarter, with the introduction of their super sub A. Nonymous (his wife does not know he played!) who kicked 3-2 for the quarter. However The Reds matched them goal for goal and towards at the final siren had kicked another 5 goals for the quarter to take the game 18-11-119 to The Scorpions 9-9-63.
This final victory secured an unblemished record for The Hong Kong Reds in the home and away season with 6 victories.
The Reds veteran PK, in the final game of his career, stole the ball on The Scorpions goal line and rifled it through from 6 inches for what was undoubtedly the goal of the day.
Goal Kickers:
The Guangzhou Scorpions:
A. Nonymous 3, Matthew “Wazza” Warren 3, Tom Ryan 1, Nathan Liescheske 1, Richy “Tiny” Weisbach 1
The Hong Kong Reds:
Matthew Jackson 5, Matthew Gallagher 5, Dwight Stuchbery 4, Matthew Baron 2, Brian Jackson 1, Peter Kenny 1 (goal of the day)
Best of the day were Matthew Jackson, Matthew Gallagher and Dwight Stuchbery for The Reds while Nick Anson, Remco Bohre and Tom Ryan had good games for The Scorpions