Opponents: Newcastle Staffs and Sheffield
Competition: National League Division 1
Date: Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th October 2007
Venue: Keele Uni (Staffs) & All Saints (Sheffield)
Staffs Result: 3-1 Win (20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15)
Sheffield Result: 3-1 Loss (20-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-17)
Headline: Docklands blow hot and cold
Author: Andy Hopper

London Docklands Volleyball returned from a tough away weekend with a win and loss against Newcastle Staffs and Sheffield respectively. With only eight players available the trip was always going to be a challenging assignment but Docklands still had the quality of players to return down the M1 with two more wins. The London side played well in parts but struggled to find the consistency required to win at this level.

The weekend began slowly with a confident Newcastle Staffs side making the most of a lacklustre start by Docklands. Strong hitting by James Cooper and effective middle play by Adam Brewer lifted the boisterous home crowd as their side coasted to a 25-20 win. The only positive for Docklands was the way they recovered their sideout game to make Staffs earn their final few points. Docklands maintained their form into the second set and with an ace from Klaus Thummert and a block by Francesco Riginelli they took a 7-4 lead. However, the game remained tight and Staffs were level by 15-15. Then despite going behind 18-16, Docklands fought back with kills by Efe Eruero and Thummert to remain in the match at 20-19 down. Captain Danny Primus then applied consistent service pressure that had been lacking so far in the match. His ace and two Cooper errors gave Docklands the advantage they needed and they closed out the set with a block on Dave Lovell by Riginelli.

This second set loss did not faze Staffs and after long haul victories against Malory and Bristol they were clearly ready to go the distance with last year's champions. The scores remained close and again the set was tied at 15-15. Then Docklands capitalised on a Staffs serving error to go four points up with attacking pressure from Riginelli and Nathan French. This proved to be the critical break as Docklands took the third set 25-22.

Staffs are renowned for their never say die attitude but on this occasion their fighting spirit was no match for a Docklands side desperate to avoid their third consecutive defeat. Alexis Blair, playing in his 50th match as Libero, and French were providing Primus with a stable platform and he was able to feed his attackers at will. A sequence of four Thummert kills, only broken by a Riginelli block, took Docklands 15-9 up. Staffs had no answer for Docklands' attacks and finally succumbed 25-15 after Thummert produced his 15th kill of the match.

This left Docklands in a buoyant mood and with news of a shock 3-0 defeat for Sheffield against Malory, they went back to their hotel confident of completing the double over the young Sheffield squad. However, Sheffield had other ideas and driven on by their experienced captain Andy Sinclair they set about gaining revenge for their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Docklands earlier in the season.

For Docklands, sets one and two followed painfully similar patterns with Sheffield gaining an early advantage that the visitors were unable to make up. Docklands coach Ian Legrand reminded his side that they had won three tight sets in the home fixture but needed to be in contention late in the set to put pressure on their hosts. They only managed this in the third set when a service run by French turned around a 21-23 deficit into a 24-23 lead with the help of a block by Primus on Joel Miller. Miller made amends by saving the set point but a Thummert kill set up Docklands' second chance. Docklands picked up Dave Clayden's first attack only for him to touch the net in his attempt to put away Docklands' scrambled defence.

Unfortunately, Docklands' revival was short-lived as the match returned to the pattern of the first two sets. Strong blocking by the home side put extra pressure on Primus and his attackers. Two blocks in a row took Sheffield 9-3 up and although Docklands enjoyed a couple of their own clusters they were unable to make significant inroads into Sheffield's lead. In the end it was left to Miller to deal the final blow and inflict Docklands' third defeat of the season.

In the previous four seasons Docklands have lost three matches in each league campaign. After seven matches they have already reached that tally, leaving their title defence in severe jeopardy. They next face City of Bristol in a must win match at Bacon's College.

Black Knights: Staffs - Klaus Thummert, Sheffield - Efe Eruero

Docklands: Halatchev 8 kills (10 attempts), Riginelli 22 (38), French 12 (21), Thummert 15 (31), Eruero 7 (14), Primus 1 (4), Blair (Libero). Sub not used: Blake.

Staffs: Allen 0 (1), Viggars 9 (24), Lovell 9 (18), Brewer 4 (10), Booth 3 (3), Pennock 1 (5), Cooper 14 (35), Roberts 6 (13), Riding (Libero). Sub not used: Drijfhout.

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Docklands: Halatchev 2 kills (2 attempts), Riginelli 15 (34), French 8 (24), Blake 0 (5), Thummert 11 (24), Eruero 5 (11), Primus 0 (2), Blair (Libero).

Sheffield: Miller 13 (24), Robertson 5 (14), Sinclair 16 (33), Bragg 1 (2), Davies 4 (8), O'Malley 1 (3), Clayden 6 (10), Ward 4 (10), Hignett 0 (0), Mousley (Libero). Sub not used: Mintoft.

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