Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/975483
54 maltatoday SUNDAY 29 APRIL 2018 Sports RUGBY MOTORSPORTS Falcons rule the roost Kavallieri ................... 0 Falcons ...................... 15 PHIL GIBBS HAVING just won a hard-fought contest against Overseas in the previous match, Falcons could have been expected to be some- what lacking in energy, but this was not the case as they came out of the blocks with all guns blazing. From the opening whistle, they totally dominated the first half. Kavallieri kicked off and failed to make 10 metres. From the result- ing free kick, Marion Azzopardi forced play towards the defending side's 22 metre line, but Donevel- lon Sladden knocked on. Overseas won their scrum, but the ball was turned over by Azzopardi and her pass found Beverie Sultana, who cleverly switched the direction of attack to the right before offload- ing to Deborah Cutajar, who pow- ered down the right wing, only to be pulled down five metres short of the line. Katka Vrbacka recov- ered possession and was tackled a metre short, but managed to stretch out her arm and ground the ball for the first points of the game. Azzopardi missed the con- version attempt. Falcons restarted the game and their kick was knocked on. Vr- backa, playing scrum half, fed the ball in and picked up from the back of the pack. She cut right, broke through a weak tackle, and ghosted through the defence to touch down for her second try. Again, the conversion was missed by Azzopardi. There then fol- lowed a passage of play in which Falcons piled the pressure on a desperate Kavallieri defence and, but for a couple of knock-ons with the line beckoning, would have stretched the lead even further. However, the half time whistle came with no further score and Falcons led 10-0, Kavallieri hav- ing failed to venture into the Fal- cons half. The second half was a different story, with a resurgent Kavallieri, led by a gutsy performance from scrum half Maria Spiteri, at last pressurising their opponents. Fal- cons first attack ended with them conceding a penalty for offside, and Alma Nesu launched Kavalli- eri's first meaningful attack of the game through the centre. Sarah Debono was penalised for holding on and Falcons took a quick pen- alty by Vrbaka, but she knocked on in the pass. From the scrum, Kav- allieri launched a second attack through Debono. The ball was slipped to Lawra Grima, whose run was ended when she was high- tackled. Spiteri took the tap and tried to pierce the Falcons line, but was isolated. She managed to find Grima and they swapped passes, before some strong coun- ter-rucking by Rodianne Bugeja halted the move. Falcons' next attacking phase ended with a pen- alty, and Kavallieri again tried to breach Falcons defensive wall, but to no avail. Falcons were penal- ised at the next scrum for pulling it down, but Spiteri's cross kick was not a good one, going straight to Barbra Caruana. She set up a ruck and some neat interplay be- tween Sultana and Bugeja made big gains downfield and ended with Sultana thundering in to score under the posts. Azzopardi somehow missed a sitter of a con- version. There was time for one further attack by Kavallieri, when Kim Demicoli put in an impres- sive run, but the move petered out and the final whistle came when Sultana booted the ball into touch. Star players – Katka Vrbacka (Falcons), Maria Spiteri (Kaval- lieri) Scores from other matches: Falcons vs Overseas: 17-12 Overseas Kavallieri: 38-5 PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOESPH GRECH Nicky Gauci wins 125 Rotax Max karting race at Triscina in Sicily Jake Agius wins the pre-final race ALFRED A. FARRUGIA 17YEAROLD Nicky Gauci has won the Final race of the 125 Rotax Max karting class at the 1,280 metres Circuito Internazi- onale di Triscina in Castelvetra- no, Trapani in Sicily. This was his 3rd race in this year's champion- ship as he missed round 2 due to school commitments. The category was made up of 3 Sicilian kart racing drivers and 3 Maltese participants with the Maltese taking all the 3 podium places. Qualifying results placed Nicky Gauci on pole position with a fastest lap of 49.681 seconds with Jake Agius just behind him in 2nd place with a time of 49.804 seconds. 3rd was another Mal- tese Luke Muscat with a time of 50.147 seconds. All the Sicilian drivers placed after the Maltese competitors. In the pre-final race, starting from pole position on the grid, Nicky Gauci led the race all the way to the final lap. Jake Agius who dropped from 2nd place to 3rd at the start to Luke Muscat regained his 2nd position after a couple of laps and chased after Nicky Gauci. Driving bumper to bumper in the last 4 laps of the race, Jake Agius managed to grab 1st position from Nicky Gauci during the last lap with a daring attack just 4 corners away from the chequered f lag, much to the delight of his father Simon who could be heard screaming with joy at that moment. In the last 200 metres after being overtaken Nicky Gauci tried his best to re- gain first position, but this was well defended and he had to settle for 2nd place. Luke Muscat came in 4th after he was surpassed by Gaetano Messina. Jake registered a fastest lap of 49.958 seconds in the 11th lap of the 12-lap pre-final race. In the final race, Jake Agius started on pole position with Nicky Gauci sharing the front row in 2nd place, as the starting grid is determined by the finish- ing position of the pre-final race. Nicky Gauci, and Luke Muscat who started from 4th place, both made excellent starts with Nicky Gauci taking the lead and Luke Muscat right behind him in 2nd place. Jake Agius lost his pole po- sition and dropped to 4th posi- tion. Both Nicky Gauci and Luke Muscat pulled away from the group in the first few laps gain- ing a precious gap that allowed a certain peace of mind. Luke Muscat managed to keep close to Nicky Gauci, but after 3 laps Nicky Gauci managed to widen the gap between them to a com- fortable 3 seconds lead. Further down the field, Jake Agius was having a battle with the Sicilian drivers, managing to pass them and regaining 3rd place. Jake managed to register the fastest lap of 50.045 seconds in the 10th and final lap of the race. The awards podium thus saw Nicky Gauci in 1st place, Luke Muscat in 2nd place and Jake Agius in 3rd. The next round of the cham- pionship will be held on the 6th May at Circuito Kinisia in Tra- pani, Sicily. Nicky Gauci, Luke Muscat and Jake Agius on the podium