Opponents: London Lynx 2
Competition: National KO Cup Round 3
Date: Saturday 10th January 2009
Venue: Bacon's College, Rotherhithe
Result: W 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-21, 15-13)
Headline: Docklands recover from New Year hangover
Author: Andy Hopper

London Docklands Volleyball resumed their 2008-09 season at the weekend with a National KO Cup third round tie against local rivals London Lynx 2. After almost a month off and only one full training session Docklands struggled to find the form that had helped them beat Lynx 1 in their last league match of 2008. The 2006-07 cup champions were also aiming to avoid a repeat of their third round match last season which saw Reading produce a clinical display to defeat the holders.

Lynx 2 play in Division 3 East and were looking to claim another scalp after beating Loughborough Students of Division 2 in the second round and were not overawed by their opponents from two divisions higher. They took advantage of some slack Docklands' play to take a 9-6 lead in the first set. However, Lynx were also prone to errors and four consecutive mistakes swung the score back towards Docklands as captain Alexis Blair punished them further to take his side 11-9 ahead. Docklands were starting to find their own rhythm and an ace by Blair stretched their lead at 15-12. However, Docklands were unable to make their superiority count and Lynx fought back to tie the scores at 20-20. The teams traded points until 23-23 when Rafael Ferro rose to give Lynx their first set point. He then shut out Mohammed Sliti to seal a surprise 25-23 first set win.

Despite racing into a 3-0 lead Docklands failed to make their dominance count as Lynx again battled their way into a 9-6 lead with two kills by Andreas Reeg. Lynx still led at 14-12 when Onno Bos went back to serve. He produced a devastating run of five serves, including four aces that turned the set around. Lynx couldn't recover and another run of serves by Matt Butterworth closed out the set 25-18.

Docklands continued their good run into the third set and stormed into a 6-0 lead with the help of two Butterworth blocks on Ben Jones. Docklands maintained their six point lead until 16-10 but then the wheels came off the Docklands bus. A series of errors combined with some tricky Lynx attacking saw the visitors lead 19-18. Wayne Davies restored Docklands' lead with a kill and an ace but that would be last time Docklands enjoyed the lead in set three. A block on Matt Mills opened up a critical two point lead for Lynx at 23-21 and despite Davies saving two set points in the final stretch an ace by Ben Jones stole the set for Lynx 27-25.

With Docklands in danger of being knocked out of the cup in the third round for the second year in a row, the Division 1 side dug in to battle it out with their lower division opponents. They had to be patient to begin with as Lynx kept it tight until 7-7 but then a powerful service run by Blair broke the deadlock as Docklands went 11-7 up. Some good blocking by Mills extended Docklands' lead and Blair led the way as his two kills closed out the set 25-21.

Docklands began the lottery that is the fifth set in confident mood and two consecutive blocks by Alex Gaitan took them 4-1 ahead. Further points by Butterworth and Mills extended Docklands' lead but kills by Reeg and an ace by Pierre Azzouz pegged back the home side. However, two aces by Blair restored Docklands' cushion as they took a 12-8 lead, seemingly on their way to an easy fifth set win. But three Docklands' errors in a row ruined that hope and coach Ian Legrand was forced to call a time out with only a one point lead. Davies and Butterworth responded to his call for discipline and focus to set up Docklands' first match point at 14-11. However, a kill by Ferro and a Docklands' error prolonged the agony for Docklands' supporters. After trying to unleash Butterworth again only for the Lynx defence to pick up his attack, Gaitan used all of his 6 foot 9 inch frame to good affect to block Jun Ming Zhang and seal a scrappy five set win for Docklands 15-13.

Legrand was philosophical after his side struggled to impose themselves on weaker opposition, "In some ways it was good that we went five sets today as it has given us valuable match practice. Obviously I would have preferred an easier win but after the break we got some useful court time." Docklands now face old rivals Polonia in the quarter final on 14th February. After playing 21 times in the league this will be the first ever KO Cup fixture between the two teams.

Next week Docklands return to league action with a crucial home match against bottom team Sheffield 2.

Docklands: Davies 17 kills (44 attempts), Bos 5 (13), Mills 5 (20), Gaitan 2 (5), Blake 0 (1), Sliti 2 (9), Blair 10 (36), Butterworth 10 (17), Senatore (Libero). Sub not used: Apostolov.

Lynx: Beckford 0 (1), Olivier Azzouz 3 (6), Ferro 8 (22), Reeg 14 (31), Dufour-Feronce 1 (7), Jones 10 (27), Ming Zhang 11 (34).

Black Knight: Onno Bos

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