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54 maltatoday SUNDAY, 2 APRIL 2017 Sport RUGBY - MEDITERRANEAN BANK CUP Stompers win semi-final BRYAN CORLETT Stompers ..................... 49 Falcons ........................ 13 TWO teams that like to run the ball faced off in this Mediterranean Bank Cup semi-final match, but it was the speed of play and a stout Stomper's defence that shut down an energetic Falcons team. Winning the contest by 49 points to 13. It was a fast and furious affair. Within 3 minutes of Richard Gum(10) kicking off into the strong wind Stompers scored their first try with a quick penalty kick taken af- ter a high tackle, the ball went wide a dropped ball that went backwards had Falcons waiting for a knock on call from Referee Sean Doublesin, he waved play on and Betts(15) came into the line to score wide out. Play to the whistle boys! The Stompers forwards were dominating in the scrum and from a strike against the head, the ball went down the blind side out to Josef Luke Azzopardi(14) and he slammed the ball down in the corner as he was tackled, making it already 10 to 0 after 10 minutes. Falcons were trying hard to get into the game with Kawara(15) An- dre Galea(11) and Aaron Borg(12) all running strongly, but the stout Stomper's defence shut them down every time. Falcons got wise and started us- ing the wind kicking into the cor- ners for territory, putting pressure on Stompers near their line which eventually lead to a penalty for off- side and Holliday(1)kicked the pen- alty to get his team on the board. 10 to 3. Stompers upped the tempo of the game and went through the phases going right then left and holes be- gan to appear in the Falcon's defen- sive line, Gum shimmied his way through and angled his 40 metre run into the corner to score another unconverted try, making the score Stompers 15, Falcons 3. Falcons swept onto a Stompers dropped ball Holliday basketball passed to his outside backs to Cost- Critien(13) who drew his opposite number passed to Andrew Vella(7) who flipped it back inside to Andre' Galea(23) who scored, it was pretty to watch! But Stompers stormed their way back. They tapped a quick penalty, the ball went wide and then back inside to Gum who scored and with Maylor(6) scoring from an- other wide movement Stompers had quickly taken the score out to 25 to 8 at the half time whistle. Falcons kicked the second half off into the wind. A head clash had Stompers los- ing Maylor(6) and Calvin Briffa(7) but it didn't stop their momentum and they went on to score two more tries through Chris Betts running into the backline to score and Gum scored his third try taking the score to 37 to 8 with the Gum conversion. Falcons went into a playing frenzy trying to get back into the game, throwing everything into the bat- tle and finally were rewarded with a fine try to Andrew Galea(7) using his speed to first take a pass from a breakout from halfway, then accel- erating away to score near the posts, with a conversion it was 37 to 13. Halliday was unlucky when the two players had clashed heads he had broken through to go over, but the Referee had to stop play calling for the medics. Kawara was showing his skills at fullback often taking down the big runners that came at him as the last line of defence, a two on one had Max Galea scoring two tries after a Luke Debattista(8) break near the end of the game, after Falcon's Cost- Critien(13) was Red Carded for a head high tackle and back chatting the Referee. The final score was Stompers 49, Falcons 13. Men of the Match: Stompers: Chris Betts. Falcons: Andre Galea. The other semi final was won by Overseas over Kavallieri by 31 to 24. So a final looms between Sliema Stompers and Swieqi Overseas. Women's 7s League Concludes KIRBY AT TARD THE last day of the women's 7s league dawned cloudy with an increasing wind. First game saw Falcons pitched against Over- seas. The game was a fast one with both teams fighting until the end to get a win,. Even though Falcons were mathematical winners of the 7s league, Overseas knew that if they won at least one game out of two, they would secure sec- ond place. The ball moved fast left to right and this took toll on Falcons' patience until they opened the score with Rodianne Bugeja scoring the opening try of the day, which was clinically converted by Marion Azzopardi. Further into the game, Falcons scored another try by Kimberley Riolo. Overseas managed to get themselves together and Wendy Pace scored, with the try con- verted by Charlotte Evans, mak- ing the score Falcons 12 Over- seas 7. The second game saw Kaval- lieri playing against Falcons, with Kavallieri putting all their efforts to win against Falcons, making it possible for them to dream for a second place. Kav- allieri showed up with a good team spirit and managed to score four tries with just one being converted as opposed to the Falcons' only converted try. Making Kavallieri the winners of the second game. Kavallieri 22 Falcons 7. Final game was the most heat- ed of the day, as it would decided second place. Both Overseas and Kavallieri fielded their best possible formations. However, Tessabelle Sultana's determina- tion to win cut the edge, letting her score the opening try of the game, with this being converted by Overseas' captain Charlotte Evans. A battle for possession ensued, resulting in another identical converted try by the Sultana Evans couple. Kaval- lieri didn't lose hope, with Kav- allieri's Amanda Cassar scor- ing and converting her own try. Overseas finished the game off by scoring a final converted try making the score Overseas 21 Kavallieri 7, landing Overseas the silver medal. The day ended with both 5s and 7s league trophy presentations with Overseas lifting the cup for the 5s league, whilst the Falcons lifted the Ben Bennett 7s cup for the fifth consecutive year. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZARA AMEEN