Opponents: City of Bristol
Competition: National League Division 1
Date: Saturday 21st March 2009
Venue: Bacon's College, Rotherhithe
Result: L 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 11-15)
Headline: Docklands battle in vain
Author: Andy Hopper

London Docklands Volleyball lost their second five-set match in a row to leave them still one win away from safety in National League Division 1. Their opponents City of Bristol were without their starting middle players Alex Burt and Tom Lord whilst Docklands were missing Yassir Sliti for the second match in a row. This loss leaves Docklands with the equivalent of a cup final next weekend against Reading - a Docklands win will see them extend their stay in the top flight to nine seasons and condemn Reading to the drop after only one term in Division 1. A Reading victory would see the final relegation spot come down to the last round of matches, something Ian Legrand's men will obviously by keen to avoid.

Legrand said after he saw his side lose the deciding set 15-11, "We lost that in the first set when we were too slow to get going and gave Bristol a comfortable start to the match. We will not be able to do that next week and we must be focused right from the start." Indeed, Docklands gave up early clusters of points in set one and despite a strong run of serves by substitute Mark Hitchcock, the home side eased to a 25-18 first set win.

Set two seemed to be going a similar way until a run of Mohammed Sliti serves gave Docklands the lead and some much needed momentum. However, Docklands were unable to open up a significant lead and Legrand looked to mix up his attack, introducing Riccardo Senatore for an out of sorts Wayne Davies. A kill by Sliti set up Docklands' first set point only for Martin Blake to see his attack blocked by Milosz Kuchajewicz. But then Senatore produced a clever hit off the Bristol block and captain Alexis Blair converted the next point to seal a 26-24 second set win.

The third set saw the lead switch sides several times as neither side could find any consistency. A block followed by an ace by Boris Halatchev saw the score tied at 21-21 only for Bristol to score two quick points to steal back the advantage. With the momentum behind the home side two consecutive kills by Kuchajewicz saw them take the third set 25-22.

Docklands were not going to go down without a fight and came out of the blocks quickly in set four. A service run by Marc Schaepertoens coupled with blocking pressure saw Docklands race into an 8-3 lead. Bristol managed to peg Docklands back but some good work at the net by Blair and Senatore kept Docklands in front and the match drifted into the seemingly inevitable deciding fifth set.

This would be Docklands' fifth five-setter in the league and they haven't won a fifth set since the opening day of the season. At 7-4 down it looked as though they were unlikely to break their run. However, after Sliti produced a deft hit over the Bristol block Legrand brought on Hitchcock to serve again. His run of serves helped Docklands lead at the change of ends, assisted by two Bristol errors and a Blair kill. However, he could only find the net after the short interlude and after a long and scrappy rally, Bristol's Matt Pierce pounced on a loose pass to take his side 9-8 up. Senatore responded but after Robin Miedzybroozke had scored his 18th kill of the match, a Docklands error gifted Bristol a two point lead at 11-9. At this late stage of a shortened fifth set, a two point advantage is crucial and with Docklands chasing the game, two more errors made Bristol's task easier. In the end a kill by Dawid Klosinski took the set 15-11.

Docklands: Davies 3 kills (14 attempts), Schaepertoens 0 (4), Halatchev 7 (18), Hitchcock 0 (1), Senatore 10 (22), Gaitan 0 (2), Blake 2 (7), M Sliti 15 (35), Blair 17 (39), Mills (Libero).

Bristol: Kuchajewicz 12 (32), Pierce 2 (6), Sullivan 0 (1), Mollen 3 (6), Musalimov 6 (25), Smith 2 (5), Miedzybroozke 18 (40), Klosinski 10 (21), Gouiran (Libero).

Black Knight: Riccardo Senatore

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