Opponents: Polonia
Competition: National KO Cup Quarter Final
Date: Saturday 14th February 2009
Venue: Bacon's College, Rotherhithe
Result: L 3-2 (25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 12-15)
Headline: No romantic ending for Docklands
Author: Andy Hopper

London Docklands Volleyball were knocked back by west London rivals Polonia on Valentines Day in the quarter final of the KO Cup. After 21 national league fixtures this was surprisingly their first ever cup tie and with home advantage Docklands were looking forward to improve on a disappointing performance in the first league match back in October. Docklands led twice after winning sets one and three but despite some battling play they succumbed to the visitors in the fifth set.

The highlight of the first set for Docklands was a powerful run of jump serves by captain Alexis Blair that included four aces in a row, three on Great Britain international Andrzej Saller. This helped Docklands run out comfortable 25-18 first set winners but Polonia recovered well to lead 15-8 in the second set. Some clever hitting by Blair and Matt Butterworth saw Docklands narrow the gap at 17-15 down but Polonia rediscovered their sideout game to level the match.

Docklands built up a small lead at the start of set three but it wasn't until two consecutive points by Yassir Sliti could they boast more than a two point lead. With a 13-9 advantage Docklands were playing with confidence and Polonia were finding it hard to stop Yassir Sliti. Docklands were in control and took the set 25-21.

Polonia were knocked out of last year's competition by Malory in the semi finals and Krzys Hykiel's men were not giving up on a re-match with a team Polonia haven't beaten on court for nearly eleven years. This time it was the visitors who opened up an early lead in the fourth set and slowly clawed their way to a 25-19 fourth set win.

The fifth set started tightly with Polonia taking a 5-4 lead. But then a block by Dominik Maslach on Yassir Sliti seemed to ignite Polonia's belief as Maslach went back to serve. He produced two aces in a row and then his team-mate Jakub Jablonski scored off the block after Docklands had had three attempts to kill the ball. This took Polonia 9-4 up, a massive lead in the shortened fifth set. An error by Docklands increased their agony as Polonia seemed on course for an easy win. Coach Ian Legrand brought on veteran Andy Vincett to see if he could inspire his side to an unlikely comeback. Initially it looked as though it could work as a Butterworth block and kills by Mohammed Sliti and Blair closed the gap on an increasingly nervous Polonia side. Docklands had reduced Polonia's lead to 11-9 before their captain Michas Saller produced two kills in a row to settle his side's nerves. However, a Polonia serving error followed by a rash hit by Saller and a kill from Yassir Sliti saw Docklands back to within a point at 13-12 down. Hykiel called a time out to break Docklands' momentum and it seemed to do the trick as Jablonksi rose to earn his side their first match point. He then made sure Docklands did not make a great escape by shutting out Blair to claim a 15-12 fifth set win.

Even though the result was not the best way for Legrand to celebrate his 300th match as Docklands coach he was still positive afterwards, "We showed some great spirit today and if it hadn't been for some lapses in concentration we could have taken this match. If we can carry forward some of the intensity of our performance to next week's match we could cause them some problems". Indeed Docklands have an immediate chance for revenge as they face Polonia in the league at St Benedict's next weekend.

Docklands: Blake 2 kills (8 attempts), Schaepertoens 0 (0), Hitchcock 0 (0), Vincett 0 (0), Gaitan 0 (6), 2 (8), M Sliti 12 (30), Blair 15 (28), Y Sliti 22 (44), Butterworth 8 (19), Halatchev 0 (0), Senatore (Libero). Sub not used: Davies.

Polonia: M Saller 11 (23), Pinter 6 (17), Jablonski 14 (43), Niski 0 (4), Maslach 1 (7), Piecka 6 (11), Biczysko 0 (0), Selep 7 (11), A Saller (Libero). Subs not used: Starkl Johnson, Hykiel, Offra.

Black Knight: Matt Butterworth

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