Laurenson stars as JBT blunt challenge of Harry’s Hotspurs
The only volleyball match played in the BP Sullom Voe Men’s League saw JBT triumph after a closely-fought battle with Harry’s Hotspurs. In the other scheduled game DITT Globetrotters picked up the points after LHD Drifters failed to field a team.
BP Sullom Voe Men’s League
JBT 3, Harry’s Hotspurs 1
(25-12, 16-25, 25-19, 25-21)
JBT eased into a 4-0 lead with four consistent jump serves from Ben Laurenson and then clever play from James Aitken which took them to a comfortable 9-2 lead.
An excellent pick up from Johnny Hawick and some good team work took the Hotspurs back to 14-6 but some effective blocking from Gary Teale shut this down. JBT dominated most of the opening set and came out on top 25-12.
The second set started evenly at 3-3 but the Hotspurs eased ahead to 5-3. JBT then found their way back into the game, taking the score to 8-5. The Hotspurs were never far away and managed to even up the score to 14-14.
The Hotspurs sneaked ahead to 19-14 due to some poor judgment calls from JBT. With great pressure from Hotspurs this frustrated JBT and the lead grew to 23-16.
JBT called a time out but that did not hinder the Hotspurs as they took the set 25-16. A huge roar from the sidelines supported a confident swagger off court from the Hotspurs.
Set three saw six evenly-matched jump serves to start off the game. Ben Laurenson blew his trumpet too early and this resulted in the Hotspurs coming into the game at 8-3. Some frantic gym floor play gave JBT the opportunity to ease ahead at 11-5.
With some good teamwork and consistent setting from Aaron Sjoberg, Kevin Moar took advantage with his accurate hitting. Finding the big hole in the middle every time, the Hotspurs clocked up their points to 17-14 and that forced JBT into a time out.
Hotspurs made a tactical substitution and it contributed to an impressive set of rallies between both teams, which in turn turned up the heat in set three. A confusing time out at 23-17 by the Hotspurs saw JBT periodically halted but they eventually emerged victorious at 25-19.
An evenly-contested start to the fourth set with some good hitting and pick-ups saw the Hotspurs take an early lead at 7-5. A good run of serves from Aitken took JBT back into the game at 10-7. With Kyle Duncan showing his goalkeeping skills with some excellent pick-ups, the Hotspurs got back to 12-11.
JBT sneaked ahead at 18-15 with some big hits but poor defending let the Hotspurs down. Ramsay Hogg came on as a substitute to make a big impact on the game by finding the holes and pushing into the corners along with a good run of serves, but JBT ran out winners at 25-21 and took the match by three sets to one.
Most valuable player for JBT was Ben Laurenson while for Harry’s Hotspurs it was Ramsay Hogg.
LHD Drifters 0, DITT Globetrotters 3
The match was awarded 3-0 to DITT Globetrotters as LHD Drifters could not field a team.
Fixtures Tonight – Clickimin Centre (Mixed League): JBT v Harry’s Hotspurs at 7pm; Sandwick v DITT Globetrotters at 9pm.
Sunday – Clickimin Centre (Mixed League): JBT v Sandwick at noon; DITT Globetrotters v Harry’s Hotspurs at 2pm.
