To much fanfare the Hanoi League has launched with 4 teams going at it under tough, wet conditions. While close first round encounters were expected in the run in

GAME 1 – Hoan Kiem Herons v Cau Giay Crabs

Game 1 saw last year’s grand finalists, the Herons and Crabs take to the field in what many expected to be a hard and close fought game. The Herons got the early jump in the first quarter to take a handy 13 point lead into the first break. The Crabs fought back strongly in the second quarter to narrow the lead to 8 points.

The fightback was short lived however as the Herons went on to dominate the second half of the game kicking 6 goals to 1 to run out 39 point winners.

Hoan Kiem 11.5.71 d Cau Giay 5.2.32

Hoan Kiem Scorers – A. Williams 3, J. Kane 2, R. Towell 2, R. Cherry 2, J. Phillips, P. van der Browne

Cau Giay Scorers – J. Worland 3, L. Nguyen 2

GAME 2 – Long Bien Langurs v Ba Dinh Buffalos

In the second game of the day, it was the highly fancied Langurs taking on the new look Buffalos, who have had an injection of youth in 2020. It was a tight tussle in the opening quarter as the skies opened, making for some scrappy football. In the second quarter as the rain eased, the Langurs took control and full advantage of the rule giving girls goals double points and went into the half time break with a commanding 35 point lead.

The second half was much of the same as the Langurs continued to put scoreboard pressure on. The Buffalos weren’t helped by their inaccurate kicking for goals, with the Langurs eventually running out winners by 50 points to sit at the top of the table.

Long Bien 11(4).3.93 d Ba Dinh 6.7.43

Long Bien Scorers: L. Philpott 4, K. Nelson 3 (3), C. Tran 2, J. Malawan 1 (1), T. Le

Ba Dinh Scorers: O. Wells 3, B. Robinson 3