The Hong Kong Dragons have recorded their fourth straight Manila Cup, overcoming a self inflicted hangover and some tough opposition in atrociously wet playing conditions at Nomad Sports Ground on Saturday 28th May. The Dragons certainly made hard work of qualifying for the final, losing two games (the Dragons record in Manila Cup was previously unblemished) before regaining their composure and form to win the Manila Cup for a fourth consecutive time.

The touring squad consisted of the following club staff and players: President Robert Burns, Captain Dwight Stuchbery, Coach Gary Wines, Assistant Coach Paul Mallia, Umpire David Varley, Club Physio Dave Garrick, Dominic Dunn, Justin Barbaro, Andrew Vize, Brian Jackson, Christian Romano and Dad Pat Romano, Ian ‘Salty’ Mcdonald, Jarrad Crighton, Jaydon Campbell, Matty Feeney, Paul Greening, Peter Kenny, Richard Drummond, Shaun Cooper, Stefan Aebi, Tim Hosford, Warrick Kendall, Will Dunn, Alex Sorlut, Christian Cook, David ‘Lips’ Kerr and Nigel Sharp.

In the days leading up to the tournament, some email banter brought about the theme of the weekend to be ‘Harden Up.’ In light of this, the Dragons were ferried from their luxurious five star hotel to the Nomad Sports Ground in local buses, some 45 minutes away. Hard seats, copious amounts of carbon monoxide and oppressive humidity seemed to gel into what could only be described as a ‘memorable bus ride.’ Coaches Wines and Mallia adapted the idea from Alistair Clarkson’s recent move of banning mobile phones from Hawthorn players pre-game to inspire a more focused performance and establish better team harmony. Would such a move work by the ingenious Dragons coaches?

Game 1 – Philippine Eagles V Hong Kong Dragons
With the Dragons winning the previous three tournaments comfortably, it wasn’t unreasonable to have them at short odds to be at least defending their title in the penultimate game. However, coaches Wines and Mallia were bewildered and stupefied in the knowledge that many players had a late night and abused alcohol the previous evening, breaking long established teams rules and hence an insipid and underwhelming performance was on display in their opening confrontation with the Eagles. The Philippine Eagles took full advantage of this and recorded a well deserved win. The Dragons leadership group seemed about as capable as Brenden Fevola’s case manager.

Eagles 4 1 25 def Dragons 2 3 15

Best: Cook, Feeny PK, Jacko and Crights.
Goals: Cook 2.

Game 2 – Singapore Wombats V Hong Kong Dragons
After much soul searching, an expletive rant by Captain Stuch, Coach Wines and Bowski, many players overcame their hangovers, began to play in front and work more as a team. Order was restored against arch rivals Singapore. The Dragons lifted their work rate and belted the Wombats by six goals. Some fine marking and finishing in the forward line by Sharpy and Coops, improved clearance work by Jacko, Stuchy and Crights enabled the Dragons to at least re-establish their credentials within the tournament.

Dragons 9 2 56 def Wombats 3 3 21

Best: Cook, Crights, Stuchy, Coops and Wazza
Goals: Coops 3, Sharpy 2, Crights, Cook, Barbs, Aebi 1 each.

Game 3 – Jakarta Bintangs V Hong Kong Dragons
At the commencement of the third game for the Dragons, the Nomad Sports Ground now resembled a suburban swimming pool. A heavy thunderstorm slowly moved across the ground. Tournament officials even suspended play for some time until the lightning strikes abated and it was safe for players to resume to the playing field. When the Bintangs and the Dragons took to the field, torrential rain still pounded the playing surface and unfortunately for the Dragons some bad habits crept back into their game. They were soundly defeated by the slick Bintangs. The Bintangs looked a superior unit, moving the ball well in the slippery conditions. A well deserved win for the Bintangs and at that stage of the tournament were destined to be tournament favourites. Cooky, Stuchy, Crights and Jacko again played well in the middle. In defence, Feens, Wazza and Bowski were blitzkrieged with regular Bintang forward pressure, could hold their heads high at games end.

Bintangs 5 1 31 def Dragons 2 5 17

Best: Cook, Stuchy, Wazza, Jacko and Crights.
Goals: Cook and Stuchy 1 each.

Game 4 – Alabang V Hong Kong Dragons
At this stage of the tournament the Hong Kong Dragons one win and two losses. The pressure was on to improve team work and at least adapt to the wet conditions. While the Alabang side put up a decent contest, the Dragons ran out winners by six goals. Percentage could prove to be important to qualify for the final and at least the Dragons played some inspired football.

Dragons 7 3 45 def Alabang 1 2 8

Best: Coops, Romano, Vize, Crights and Hosford.
Goals: Coops 2, Romano 2, Cook, Crights, PK 1 each.

With a very even competition this year, the Dragons still had a glimmer of hope of making the finals if results went their way. They needed Jakarta to defeat Singapore. In a tight contest, the Bintangs did the Dragons a favour and hence the Dragons found themselves playing in the final after losing two games.

Manila Cup Final: Jakarta Bintangs V Hong Kong Dragons
With the grounds light now switched on, the swimming pool just got deeper. Flashbacks of Glastonbury began to surface. More rain meant deeper puddles on the playing surface. Basic wet weather football skills were required again. In what turned out to be a slug fest in mud and water, the Dragons slowly wore down a tired and depleted Bintang outfit throughout the first half. They kept the momentum going in the second half and ran out winners by seven goals. Stuchy was again outstanding for the Dragons. He was well supported by Cooky and Crights in the middle. Barbs chimed in with two goals and when Stefen ‘His name is Stefan’ Aebi goaled in the middle stages of the second half, the Manila Cup was again Hong Kong bound. Special mention to Matt (Dipper) Feeney for continuing to play with a punctured lung, courtesy of a solid knee to his ribs in an earlier match.

Dragons 8 4 52 def Bintangs 1 goal and a bit more

Best: Stuchy, Cooky, Crights, Jacko and Wazza.
Goals: Barbs 2, Aebi, Cook, Coops, Wilba, PK and Romano 1 each.

Special thanks to Derek Ackary and Steve Arthur of the Philippine Eagles for again organising such a terrific tournament. So great to see the local Alabang side flourish in recent times. Full marks to the Eagles. Dave Garrick for providing his physio services and David Varley his umpiring. Thanks to coaches Wines and Mallia and a huge thanks to Barbs for sorting the flight and hotel for the playing group. Congratulations to Coops for winning the goal of the day and Stuchy best afield in the final. Cooky and Coops finished the tournament with six goals each, coming equal second to the tournaments leading goal kicker.

Paul Mallia.