Opponents: Polonia
Competition: National League Division 1
Date: Saturday 21st February 2009
Venue: St Benedict's Ealing
Result: L 3-0 (22-25, 25-27, 19-25)
Headline: Docklands can't stop a Polonia double
Author: Andy Hopper

London Docklands Volleyball faced west London rivals Polonia for the second time in a week and again ended up on the losing side. After a dramatic five set match last weekend in the cup quarter final, Docklands were looking for revenge in the league match at St Benedict's. Polonia were missing the influential Saller twins whilst Docklands welcomed back Matt Mills and he returned to the libero shirt.

The critical phase of the match occurred at the end of set two. Yassir Sliti had just blocked Jakub Jablonski forcing Polonia coach Krzyz Hykiel to call his second time out 22-19 down. Jablonski recovered well in the next point and then an ace by Dominik Maslach saw Polonia close to within a point. Sliti restored Docklands' advantage but then Luciano Pinter went on an unstoppable run, scoring three points in a row. At 24-23 he then had a swing to win the set but Sliti shut him out to tie the scores. The teams exchanged points before a Docklands error gifted Polonia their third set point. An over-pass by Docklands then helped Maslach wrap up the set to take a 2-0 lead.

By contrast, sets one and three followed similar patterns with Polonia taking an early lead and despite some valiant efforts by Docklands they could not make up the advantage Polonia had built up. Matt Butterworth was one of few highlights for Docklands; always a threat at the net and rarely beaten by Polonia's middle attackers. However, for his good all-round game Mohammed Sliti was awarded Docklands' Black Knight award. Pinter received Docklands' vote for their MVP and he was ably supported by Jablonski and Maslach. With Sheffield 1 sewing up the league title with four games to go, Polonia must now concentrate on the KO Cup. However, they have to get past bogey team Malory in the semi final who they haven't beaten on court since 1998.

Docklands' coach Ian Legrand said afterwards, "We never really got started today and that was disappointing. Our game was too inconsistent and we really need to improve before next week's crucial match." Indeed, his side face fifth placed Newcastle Staffs next Saturday at Bacon's College in a must win match as Docklands try to edge away from the relegation zone.

Docklands: Davies 0 kills (4 attempts), Halatchev 0 (0), Hitchcock 0 (0), Gaitan 0 (2), Blake 4 (8), M Sliti 7 (18), Blair 5 (26), Y Sliti 11 (33), Butterworth 4 (10), Mills (Libero). Subs not used: Schaepertoens, Senatore.

Polonia: Pinter 13 (26), Jablonski 10 (22), Di Bella 0 (0), Niski 1 (2), Maslach 5 (21), Piecka 0 (5), Selep 3 (4), Offra (Libero). Subs not used: Starkl Johnson, Hykiel, Biczysko, Glinka.

Black Knight: Mohammed Sliti

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