Opponents: Malory
Competition: National League Division 1
Date: Saturday 1st December 2007
Venue: Bacon's College
Result: L 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 21-25, 23-25)
Headline: Malory dent Docklands' defence
Author: Andy Hopper

London Docklands and London Malory have been at the top of men's volleyball in this country for a number of years. However, both sides lost some key players over the summer and keen followers of English volleyball might have expected this to be a transitional season for both clubs. Despite Sheffield and Polonia staking their claim for the title we have reached the half way point of the season and it is once again the two London clubs at the top of the table. The classic top versus second was given extra spice after Docklands finally wrestled both Malory's league and cup titles last season. The experienced Malory side were back for revenge and with Clayton Lucas called out of retirement to help with the visitor's shortage of outside hitters, Jefferson Williams' side could boast almost 350 international caps.

The match started with neither side able to gain any sort of advantage over the other. Both sides had confident sideout games but could not make a significant break through in defence. An ace by Malory's new outside hitter Ivan Zamprianov saw his side sneak 20-19 ahead and Docklands coach Ian Legrand recognised his potential threat and called his first time out. Zamprianov put his next serve in the net and Klaus Thummert punished this error with an ace of his own. Further service pressure told on Malory's passing unit and a block by Martin Blake on Alex Bialokoz put Docklands 23-20 up. Another Thummert ace then gave Docklands four set points. He ballooned his next serve out and despite a block by Dankielson Westphal on Francesco Riginelli, Docklands closed out the set 25-22 with a kill by Blake.

Set two was another tight affair. However, Docklands gained a useful two point lead half way through the set after blocks by Danny Primus and Riginelli. But Malory slowly pulled themselves back into the set and match with some strong play by Zamprianov and Bialokoz. The sides remained locked in a sideout battle as kills from French and Blake responded to points by Bialokoz and Westphal taking the score onto 23-23. The critical 27th point went Malory's way when Richard Dobell shut out French. The experience of the west London side then told as a Docklands hitting error tied the match at one sets all.

After their early scare Malory were now looking more comfortable and a service run by Zamprianov boosted their spirits further early in the third set. Docklands were feeling the pressure and once Malory were up by a couple of points they were enjoying the game again and playing with confidence. Errors were creeping into Docklands play and the Malory attackers were always there to punish any lapses. The set simply ran away from Docklands as Malory strolled to a 25-21 win.

Docklands showed their battling qualities in the fourth set as they more than matched the multi-title winning team. However, two consecutive kills by Zamprianov gave Malory a two point lead at 11-9 and further clever hitting by Lucas saw the visitors steal ahead 15-11. But Docklands fought back with kills by Riginelli helping them narrow the gap at 16-17. Docklands were still in touch at 21-22 down but successive kills by Lucas and Bialokoz gave Malory some breathing space and set up three match points. However, Efe Eruero drilled a smash into the Malory court and Riginelli produced his 25th kill of the match to get Docklands within a point. Dobell then went back to his long time partner Bialokoz and in his effort to stop him, Eruero was adjudged to have touched the net. The appreciative crowd were denied the excitement of a fifth set as Malory celebrated.

Legrand was philosophical afterwards commenting, "We played really well in patches but lacked the consistency you need against teams like Malory. It was a disappointing way to end as I was confident we would have taken them in a fifth set but we must pick ourselves up for the run into Christmas."

Docklands now have two more matches this year, both at home, to get their league challenge back on track. Next Saturday they host East London rivals Lynx at Bacon's College, Rotherhithe, 2.30pm start.

Docklands: Riginelli 25 kills (45 attempts), French 10 (24), Blake 3 (7), Thummert 11 (22), Sliti 0 (0), Gaitan 2 (3), Eruero 5 (9), Primus 3 (5), Blair (Libero). Sub not used: Phillips.

Malory: Westphal 5 (13), Hori 0 (0), Lucas 9 (20), Dobell 1 (2), Omoshebi 2 (8), Bialokoz 11 (22), Williams 0 (0), Zamprianov 15 (21), Carr (Libero).

Black Knight: Martin Blake

Back to top