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54 maltatoday SUNDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2017 Sport RUGBY PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZARA AMEEN Stompers play 15-man rugby to win Cisk League match BRYAN CORLET T THIS was a strong Stompers team that ran out to confront a young Kavallieri team in this Cisk League encounter. From the word go Stompers were play- ing their trade mark game, quickly recy- cling possession with McLister at 10 dic- tating the width of the attacks. Kavallieri played with passion throughout but they were frustrated by the Stompers's defen- sive effort, as they tried to run it in attack and the speed of play at times had them chasing shadows, as Stompers moved the ball from side to side. Richard Gum (13) was all energy until he went off just before half time, having scored two tries, two conversions and two penalties, taking the score out to 25 to nil on the half hour mark, with a pen- alty try included, as a Stompers player was tackled without the ball as he chased a kick through over the tryline. Gary Hili (3), Ryan Sullivan (1) and the impressive Aidan Micallef (4) were into everything, laying a solid platform for the Stompers's backline to work their magic. Sean Doublesin (15) was keeping his team on attack with some fine touch finders and running skills splitting the Stompers's tight defence. Jeremy Debattista (22) out on the wing seemed lost, but then all of a sudden the ball came his way and he unleashed a powerful run up the middle of the field, scattering Kavallieri tacklers in his wake. His final pass went to ground, but from the ensuing play it was there that the penalty try was awarded by Referee Li- onel Da Silva. A box kick by Max Galea over his for- wards had the Kavallieri back three in all sorts of bother, as the Stompers's backs put them under pressure, Gum swooped on a dropped ball and ran it 30 metres to score in the corner. Malcolm Attard (20) came on for Gum and was running strongly in midfield, he was rewarded with a try after anoth- er strong Luke Debattista 80 metre run from his own tryline, to under the shad- ows of the Kavallieri posts, tackled, the ball then went the blind side and Attard scored in the corner for a brilliant con- version from the sideline by McLister (10) to make the half time score. Stompers 32, Kavallieri 0. Coach Dan Moore was urging his Kav- allieri players to stick to the game plan in the second half, tighten it up in the for- wards and play territory. They did that for five minutes and scored with a bull- ocking run by Graham Attard (1) from a quick tap penalty by Joseph Cutajar (8) after a weaving run upfield by Fajak- Hanan (7). A glimmer of hope for the Kavallieri supporters but that soon faded as the Stompers team moved up a gear in the second half, using their speed of hand and feet to find gaps out wide. McLister powered a penalty kick over from the half way, to keep the score board ticking over. McLister then scored in the corner after another strong run by Luke Debattista down the touchline stepping back infield and linking with his inside backs. Kavallieri were playing with passion but a lot of individual breaks were fizzling out due to a lack of support runners or poor passes going to ground. The game plan had also been torn up and tossed out the window. Attard (20) had a weaving run out from his 22, he off loaded to Camilleri (12) who bashed it a few metres then drew the last man and passed to Azzopardi on the wing, who ran it in to score with McLis- ter adding the conversion to make it now Stompers 50 Kavallieri 5. Betts (15) scored from a backline move, receiving the ball from Camilleri in an off load as he ran a straight line down the middle. McLister converted. Fresh legs for Kavallieri didn't help their cause as Stompers scored again, Max Galea (9) kicking a rolling ball through which he gathered to run it in and around near the posts for Malcolm Attard (20) to end this game with a score of 68 to 5. Men of the Match: The W hole Stompers team. Kavallieri: Sean Doublesin. Second Match: Overseas 40 Falcons 10. PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN STILON