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50 maltatoday SUNDAY 14 JANUARY 2018 Sports RUGBY Overseas defeat Falcons in a hard tussle BRAN CORLETT Overseas ..................... 36 Falcons ........................ 14 THIS MeDirect Cup game ebbed and f lowed along with the swirl- ing winds that swept the Marsa ground. Both teams were affect- ed by work commitments and "Man Flu" so a number of players were playing out of position and having to learn quickly in the midst of the battle. But having said that, the game was enjoyable to watch, as both teams tried to play Rugby and competed with passion. Referee Joseph Cutajar got the game underway with Falcons get- ting first use of the strong wind, playing towards the Clubhouse. Swieqi Overseas were playing with width, with Mupimhidza(12) usually a hooker running straight and defending well, then outside him the New Zealander, Rho- dri McKenzie(13) showed all his skills, using his pace and guile to beat defenders scoring two tries and setting up another one for his fullback Cameron Brown in the first half. But it was Falcons who opened the scoring with a Bjorn Mi- callef(9) try after a period of at- tacking play inside the Overseas' 22. Sam Keep(10)converted and Falcons were in front 7 to 0. But Overseas hit back with their opening try to Cameron Brown as he ranged out wide taking a pass from McKenzie, then the two tries to McKenzie, the first from a de- layed pass from Aiden Grech(10) he stepped his marker and back inside and around the fullback. His second try was batted down by big Matt Stoker(1) standing like a mountain, the ball fell into Mc- Kenzie's hands for him to score. Aiden Grech(10) converted one of the tries to make the half time score Overseas 17, Falcons 7. Overseas kicked off the second half with the wind behind them, but they failed to use it, by either kicking for the corners to gain ter- ritory, or putting up the high ball to create pressure. Instead they were tapping pen- alties 70 metres out and trying to score from there, burning out their forwards in the process. Falcons defended well, were quick at the tackle, turning over the ball with Gabriel Scicluna(21) winning some valuable ball for his team. The Falcons' scrum had the edge and won three hooks against the head and Daniel Holliday(1) and Sam Keep(10) kept their team in the game with their attacking play and resourcefulness. It was finally Overseas who scored first in the second half, but it took them 27 minutes to break down the Falcons' defence with a forward drive and some pick and goes, with first Mupimidza go- ing close then Peter Debono(19) crashing over. Grech converted to take his team out to 24 to 7. On the restart Falcons quickly took play downfield with a back- line move going left with Holliday offloading a backhand pass to Jxan Pierre Zarb(15). He smoked the Overseas winger, crashed into the fullback and offloaded to Hol- liday for him to score, Keep(10) converted to make it Overseas 24, Falcons 14 giving Falcons a glim- mer of hope. But Overseas stepped up a gear and went on the attack, Edgar Goss(23) on as a substitute, ran hard at the corner but was hit with a head high tackle and bundled in- to touch, Referee Cutajar flashed a yellow card at Keep and without hesitation awarded a penalty try to Overseas, automatically giving them 7 points. Finally Taber Hammond(8) a player who had given his all throughout the game, scored af- ter a forward rush and bash, go- ing over exactly on full time and making the final score Overseas 36, Falcons 14. The wind played havoc with at- tempts to run the ball, testing the skill level of the players in trying to pass both left and right, but the passion for the game was not diminished and it was a contest throughout the 80 minutes. Men of the Match: Overseas: Rho- dri McKenzie(12), Falcons: Sam Keep(10). Referee: Joseph Cutajar PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT PORTELLI Falcons snuff out Kavallieri revival PHIL GIBBS Falcons .......................... 24 Kavallieri ....................... 5 FALCONS won the toss and elect- ed to kick off with the strong wind behind them. The high ball was caught by Maria Spiteri who tried to set up an attack, but the ball was knocked on. Kavallieri were pinned in their own half and possession changed hands twice before Fal- cons were awarded a scrum from a Kavallieri knock - on in a dangerous position on the 5-metre line. The ball was hooked back quickly to Carole Casparis, who was tackled on the line by Spiteri, but managed to ground the ball for the opening try. The conversion was missed by Casparis. From the Falcons high kick - off, the bouncing ball was picked by Myra Bonello and taken to ground. Possession was recovered, but Kav- allieri showed a lack of judgement by opting to kick the ball forward, unfortunately handing possession straight back to the pacey Kimberly Riolo, who gratefully ran in between the posts for Falcons' second score. This time the try was converted by Casparis to take the score to 12 nil. Another high testing kick-off put up by Rodianne Bugeja was knocked on by Kavallieri and the resulting attack from first Marion Azzopardi and then Katka Vrbacka was halted when a penalty was awarded against Kavallieri for not releasing the player. Another prob- ing run from Riolo tracking left along the 5-metre line and looking for space in the defensive line was ended by a high tackle. The referee signalled advantage, and Donnavel- lon Sladden pounced on the loose ball to score what would have oth- erwise have surely been a penalty try. The conversion was success- fully landed, and the first half ended with Falcons up by 19 unanswered points and on the attack when the whistle saved Kavallieri from what looked a certain try. Kavallieri started the second half with much more determination, and their first real attack of any sub- stance down the right wing by Re- becca Tanti was halted by Vrbacka, but a penalty was awarded against her just over the halfway line. From the quickly taken tap, Spiteri sent Bonello spearing through the sleep- ing Falcons defence and she ran 40 metres to score. Justine Zammit missed the conversion. Kavallieri continued their revival in the next period of play, leading to two penalties in quick succession by Falcons after some desperate de- fending against Bonello and Franc- esca Schembri. From the second of these, Spiteri moves the ball right, but Bonello's subsequent pass to Alina Nesu was cleverly intercepted by Casparis, who was gifted an easy run-in to the line. Again, her con- version attempt was missed, but the Falcons lead had stretched to 24-5. Kavallieri continued to pressurise Falcons after the score and put in two sustained assaults on the Fal- cons defensive line, both of which ended in penalties. Marion Azzo- pardi was the player to be sent to the sinbin for repeated team offences. The Kavallieri revival fizzled out, however, as Falcons regained the upper hand despite being a player down. Their final attack was ended when the ball was knocked on by Sladden just inches from the line. The final whistle arrived with the final score remaining 24-5 in favour of Falcons Players of the match – Kimberly Riolo, Falcons. Maria Spiteri, Kav- allieri Referee - Sam Ramage PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSEPH GRECH