Fired-up Stompers stun Kavallieri

Kavallieri 17
Stompers 41

Sweet revenge for the Stompers for their disappointments against Kavallieri as they finally came of age to record their first win in a thrilling match which underlined the improvement in Maltese rugby.

Stompers started with grim determination not to be dominated by the strength of the Kavallieri pack and definitely had the better of the first half, territorially.

The scoring was opened by Malcolm Attard bursting through for Stompers onto a timed pass although Calleja missed the conversion.

Over-eagerness gave a penalty opportunity to Stompers converted by Fountain, stretching the lead to eight points.

Throughout the huge pressure by Stompers, the Kavallieri defence was strong and there was always the feeling that they would break out dangerously at any time. In fact the half ended with Kavallieri pressing hard at the Stompers line, held up by desperate defending.

The second half began with another close call for Stompers when Glenn Doublesin caught a bad kick ahead well in his own half and nearly burst all the way through to score, but was frustrated by Fountain.

Stompers then won a good ball from the scrum and passed the ball quickly along the line to winger Miguel Cutajar who finished the move with a beautiful run to score. Fountain failed to convert.

Kavallieri's Mike Bonavia then left the field with a knee injury, but his team increased their efforts. Chris Vassallo, Glenn and Sean Doublesin were inspired to make several dangerous sorties.

However, Mark Attard pounced to intercept a pass and sprinted 40m under the posts, converted by Calleja.

Kavallieri roared back with spirit but Stompers held well and came back on the attack with a pinpoint kick into the empty box by Mirabelli, a fast follow-up by the back row, good driving and David Borg driving over, converted by Calleja.

A lofted pass by Stompers was intercepted by Sean Doublesin who put the Kavallieri on the scoreboard with a try converted by Vassallo.

This inspired Kavallieri, especially the Doublesin brothers, to bolster efforts. One run by Sean Doublesin was spoiled by bad luck when his chip ahead bounced back over his head straight into the hands of a much slower defender.

Inevitable pressure paid off when Vassallo powered over, but failed to convert. As Kavallieri looked as if they might be retrieving the game, their attacks became a little wild so Luke Camilleri was able to make yet another interception of a loose pass and this was followed by yet another Mark Attard burst under the posts.

Both were converted by Calleja to bring Stompers' final score to 41.

Daniel Grima scored a final try to bring Kavallieri's closing total to 17.

Alligators 0
Overseas 113

Alligators were so badly hit by injuries and absences, that they could only field 12 players which explains the record score.

Tig Newbould scored a personal and incredible 53 points in tries and conversions.

However, the game was fairly interesting because Alligators made a gallant attempt to resist the numerical superiority and Overseas never lost their enthusiasm. Neither did they lose their stamina despite the backs making many long runs of 40 to 75 yards to score yet again.

Indeed, it does credit to the Alligators that they carried the ball so deep into the Overseas half many times before the inevitable overlap created another try scoring break.

The handling and skills shown were good, keeping the match entertaining.