Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/734031
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2016 Sport 62 RUGBY Sliema Stompers second half comeback gives them the Ray Elliot Cup BRYAN CORLET T ON an overcast day down at Marsa a bat- tle commenced between last season's vic- tors, the Mediterranean Bank Cup win- ners Stompers, and the winners of the Cisk Lager League the Overseas. It was the opening of the new season and a large crowd made it down to Rugby Pitch 3 for the hit-out. Referee Killian O'Brian was the whistle man for the game and it got off to a fast and furious start from the moment Overseas kicked off, as they applied pressure throughout 30 min- utes of the first half, keeping the danger- ous Stompers backs stif led and starved of good ball. The Overseas ball retention was excel- lent as they worked the ball from side to side with some intelligent kicking from Corcoran (10) and Briffa (12). The pressure brought points as Stompers in- fringed scrambling their defence to meet the onslaught. Briffa (12) kicked penalties on 5 and 12 minutes to take the lead, at 6 points to nil. Abrantes (13) receiving fast wide ball was running hard and straight at the Stompers' backline, giving his team mo- mentum. Harvey (3) had a charge for the line but Cerketta hit him hard driving him over the touchline near the corner f lag. Overseas scored a well worked try go- ing left then right with Clayton Cassar (8) Anthony Harvey (3), Guillaime Pijoan (5)and Marcus Crawford (1) all handling, then an off load from Corcoran (10) to Pi- joan (5) he straightened and scored under the posts. Briffa (12) converted Overseas 13 Stompers 0. Stompers were having trouble stemming the Overseas tide. On 24 minutes Malcolm Attard (12) was yellow carded after repeated infringe- ments. During that 10 minutes Overseas scored again when the Stompers fumbled the ball and Overseas kicked through, Gauci (14) picked up and scored wide out, but Briffa (12) nailed the conversion to make the score Overseas 20 Stompers 0. From the kickoff Overseas again at- tacked deep into Stompers territory, the ball was off loaded to Richie Bowen (7) who was having a blinder and he scored near the posts, with Briffa's conversion Overseas looked to have an unassailable lead. Then someone threw a switch and the game changed, McLister (22) came on at f lyhalf with Gum (10) moving to fullback, Stompers started to keep hold of the ball and put some phases together using wide ball with players in space, they scored twice through Jeremy Debatista (11) out wide and Mathew Camilleri (6) through a bash up the middle. Both tries were con- verted by Gum (10). Overseas 27 Stompers 14.The tide had turned. Another defining moment in the game was Clayton Cassar (8) being red carded for a punch, which left his team playing with 14 for the rest of the game. Stompers roared into life in the sec- ond half, exploiting the extra man in the scrum, winning a number of tight heads and out wide, as the game opened up. Camilleri (6) scored again with a strong run to the line with Gum (10) convert- ing it was Overseas 27 Stompers 21 and closing fast. Pace-Moore (8) scored going blind from a scrum. Stompers 28 Over- seas 27. Overseas lost their Lock and scrumhalf to injury and their structure and compo- sure went with it. Cerketta (4) scored re- ceiving inside ball, crashing over. Stomp- ers 35 Overseas 27. Gum was kicking the conversions. Again from wide ball Josef Azzopardi (14) sprinted 50 metres to score. Stomp- ers 40 Overseas 27. Overseas tried to storm back but Stompers held them at bay, frustrating their efforts. A hard fought game of Rugby to start the season. Man of the Match: Ryan McLister (Stompers) Richie Bowen (Overseas). PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN AQUILINA PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN STILON