Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/640308
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2016 Sport 50 RUGBY - MEDITERRANEAN BANK CUP Falcons defeat young Kavallieri side FALCONS ............... 24 KAVALLIERI ............ 10 MIKE TURNER IT was an entertaining match in which Falcons showed huge im- provement and both sides helped the entertainment by trying to play open, running rugby. Kaval- lieri were brave in fielding a side which was mostly their second string, many of whom were fairly new to rugby. Falcons started with a bang and piled on the pressure until smart passing launched full back Zarb at an angle and he cut in to score under the posts, converted by Grui. Kavallieri began to gain ground and create pressure but Falcons' tackling was epic, until Edmunds converted a penalty for Kavallieri to cut the lead to 3-7. Some of the young Kavalli- eri looked promising, such as Tonna, and J-P Zammit had a storming game with many car- ries. A sloppy lineout tap back by Falcons was snatched by Zammit who f lipped the ball to Rossi to score under the posts. A conver- sion by Edmunds and Kavallieri had the lead 10-7. Falcons' backs were not always pressuring the Kavallieri back line who had plenty of space to build up attacks. Falcons were also giving away too many pen- alties. A period of desperate de- fence on their own line by Falcons ended when Kavallieri wasted a big overlap through poor passing by Edmunds. Finally Falcons relieved the pressure when Kavallieri were penalised and Galea kicked a fine touch. Falcons' Scicluna then led a drive forward with a burst from the lineout. Both sides were try- ing to play quick handling, run- ning, off loading rugby, even though the tackling was destruc- tive. Kavallieri took a quick tap penalty and ran well into the Fal- cons half, but the defence held. At half time the match stood at 10 for Kavallieri, 7 for Falcons, which probably ref lected the bal- ance of the game. Falcons made a hash of the kick off, giving possession to Kavalli- eri and looked vulnerable at the beginning of the second half. Too much sloppiness under- mined their ambition, but they were beginning to dominate the set scrums, which tends to de- moralise an opposition. The best of the Falcons, Galea went off for a blood injury to be bandaged, but soon returned, then Kaval- lieri Magri was yellow carded to the sinbin and the returning Galea scored a good try after a break by the mobile Malta inter- national, Holliday, to regain the lead 10-12. This was the turning point of the match and from this moment Falcons had the edge, although Kavallieri fought back and there were several stirring attacks by both sides as the advantage f lowed back and forth. Finally, with both sides spread wide and formations broken up, slick handling and tough run- ning by Falcons let Borg slice through the middle for another try under the posts, converted by Grui – 10-19. From this moment on Falcons were in charge, de- spite valiant efforts by Kavallieri, with Edmunds, Hanan and oth- ers standing out, but there was no way through the determined tackling of all the Falcons backs. In every scrum the Falcons were shoving Kavallieri back. The fi- nal score came when the Falcons forwards charged and Holliday was released to score after an exchange of passes to score the final try for a result of 10-24. It was a good match to watch and enjoy and it was very pleas- ing to see that Falcons seem to have overcome their disciplinary problems to play a good brand of running rugby. A good after- noon, worthy of the Mediterra- nean Bank Cup. In the other match Swieqi Over- seas beat Gladiators 58-0. Next Saturday, starting at 10.30am the Malta International Ladies Sevens Tournament, be- tween five teams, Swiss Barbar- ians, Malta Barbarians, Czech Republic Lazybirds, Sirio Sev- ens from Ivrea, Italy and Malta Sailors. This is always a really enjoyable sporting spectacle. The Semis and the Final will be played on Sunday. PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN AQUILINA