Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/634260
52 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 JANUARY 2016 Sport RUGBY Swieqi Overseas defence shuts down Kavallieri Falcons dominate Ladies Sevens series Overseas ........................35 Kavallieri .......................5 BRYAN CORLETT THIS Mediterranean Bank Cup game was all about defence, as Sw- ieqi Overseas ran out the winners against a determined Kavallieri team, that however had their attack- ing flair stifled. It was perfect weather for rugby, with only a slight breeze blowing with overcast condi-tions. Kavallieri needed a win, after losing to Sliema Stompers by a few points, but Sw- ieqi Overseas, after toppling Stomp- ers and then Falcons in their last games, were looking to drive their advantage home. From a kick off that went too long, Overseas went on the attack getting a scrum at the half way. That first scrum was a monster from Over- seas, as they pushed Kavallieri back- wards and won a penalty. Overseas ran the ball and worked the ball right then left, going through the hands to Vince Stivala (13) and he scored to the left of the posts on 5 minutes and with Duch- ange (12) adding the conversion, it was Overseas 7 Kavallieri 0. In that first half, Overseas had to endure wave upon wave of pressure, as Kavallieri at-tacked their line, but their defence was determined, not allowing Kavallieri to get good ball to their speedy wingers Bedarhan (20) Rossi (11) or later Imbroll (14) when he came on, closing them down when they did receive it. Ed- munds missed a penalty at goal, which would have raised his team's confidence, after attacking for so long without a score. Michael Bonavia (7) for Kavallieri was turning ball over in the tackle and winning the lineouts, but his team could not break out of the Overseas' defensive shackles. Over- seas' substitute Mumphisda (19) was yellow carded for not releasing the tackled player, so he was out of the game for 10 minutes. So at half time the score remained the same.7 to 0. With only six minutes on the clock in the second half, a Kavallieri dropped pass was kicked through by Stivala (13) and he got a favour- able bounce and scored to the right of the posts, with another conver- sion by Duchange (12), and it was now 14 nil to Overseas. There were some big hits going in from both sides as the tempo of the game rose, with both teams look- ing to score, a couple of head high tackles were penalised. Overseas Captain Anthony Harvey (3) was having an excellent game with some charging runs and ripping the ball in the tackle. Also Clayton Cassar (8), Danny Delia (5) Guillaume Pijoan (4) were having strong games in attack and defence. The front row for Overseas, De Bono (1), Hill (2) and Harvey (3) were impressive. On the Kavallieri side Nicholai Grech (4) Mark Cortis (6) and Bona- via (7) were having busy games, try- ing to get their team going forward. Duchange (13) is first yellow carded, then Red carded for back chatting Referee Killian O'Brien, he didn't realise that the Referee could understand French. Kavallieri attack again and have several lineouts near the Overseas line, but again the Overseas defence closes them down. Then from a break out near their 22, Vince Sti- vala (13) ran 60 metres down the touchline and around the last line of defence to score, he converted the try to make it Overseas 21 Kaval- lieri 0. Almost immediately Stivala was yellow carded for a head high tackle and for a period of 10 minutes Over- seas are down to 13 men against 15. During this period Kavallieri scored with Milan Susnjara (9) run- ning around a ruck close to the line. Overseas 21 Ka-vallieri 5. If Kavallieri had played smart at this point and gone through the phases with a bit of patience they could have scored again, but poor options and dropped passes killed their two-man advantage. Debiere (23) had a good run from fullback streaking down the line 50 metres, but his offload was knocked on. Stivala scored his fourth try under the posts, with another kick through that bounced over the line for him to score. With their tails up Overseas scored again, with a strong run up the middle to have Dan-ny Delia (5) score under the posts and Cor- coran's conversion made the final score: Overseas 35 Kavallieri 5. The Overseas defence shut out the Kav- allieri on the day. Man of the Match: Vince Stivala (13) Other scores: Stompers 35 Falcons 15. PHIL GIBBS Match 1 – Falcons 24 Overseas 5 On a perfect day for running rugby, with no wind and a dry pitch, Falcons kicked off in what turned out to be the best of the three games. They won posses- sion and demonstrating speed, skill and subtlety switched the ball left and right, looking for a gap in the Overseas defence. Hard tackling from Over- seas held the line, until Silvia Gambino sniffed out a space through the centre and broke through to score the first try, which was converted by Mari- on Azzopardi. In the next play, Falcons won a penalty in the scrum, and Noemi Perez was yellow-carded for not retreat- ing 10 metres. Azzopardi took it quickly and deftly slipped the ball to Gambino, who burst through for her second try. Az- zopardi missed the conversion. Falcons then won another pen- alty when Overseas were penal- ised for playing the ball on the f loor, and Katka Vrbacka broke away down the wing, only to be bundled into touch by Over- seas. From the lineout, Overseas won their first penalty, and Tessabella Sultana made a strong 30-metre run, but the ball was turned over by Falcons, and a surging break by Deborah Cutajar up the wing beat the chasing Overseas defence and she scored a stunning individual try. At half-time, Falcons turned round with a 19-point lead. Overseas started the second half with a long kick-off, which was gathered by Caroline Gafa. She ran it back to the opposing 22-metre line, but the resulting maul went nowhere, and Over- seas won the scrum put-in. They won the set piece and the ball was taken up by Sairata Cas- sar with a strong, surging run to Falcons 5-metre line. Franc- esca Bartolo was sin-binned for not rolling away, and from the penalty Charlotte Evans moved the ball inside to Sultana, who touched down. The conversion was missed. From the restart, Gafa kicked into touch, but Falcons won the lineout, and the ball was shipped along the line, only for winger Kimberley Riolo to knock on with the line beckoning. Falcons won the scrum, and gained a penalty from a high tackle which could well have resulted in a yel- low card. From the penalty, Az- zopardi cleverly switched play to Bartolo, who off loaded to Vrbacka. She whipped the ball to Riolo, who made up for her earlier lapse by sprinting in to score the final try, and Falcons ran out 24-5 winners, although Overseas could feel slightly hard done by, as the score did not re- f lect the hard defensive work they put in throughout. Player of the match – Silvia Gambino Other Matches: Match 2 - Kavallieri 0 Falcons 15 Match 3 – Overseas 26 Kavallieri 5 PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN AQUILINA PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN AQUILINA