Dramatic finale as Kavallieri collect second trophy

Kavallieri Blue Label 25
Stompers TGIF 20

What a magnificent finish to the domestic rugby season and a great credit to the ability and commitment of all the players.

This match was refereed by Yorkshireman Julian Smith from the Edinburgh Society of Rugby Referees. Smith soon imposed his pleasant but strict personality on the game, in a way which benefited all players and crowd.

Both teams were utterly dedicated to winning this match which started at a frenetic pace, with plenty of hard running and wide balls.

Kavallieri swiftly gained their usual territorial advantage and deservedly took the lead after a somewhat lucky bounce allowed in Jean Zammit, converted by Sean Doublesin.

However, despite their edge, the Stompers backs were always threatening and Malcolm Attard made an incisive break, passed to the supporting Fountain who put Mirabelli over for a fine try.

Good interpassing gave Fountain the opportunity to surge past the cover and Stompers forged ahead. John Attard, however, failed with both conversions.

This inspired Kavallieri to surge back with hard rucking forward pressure and Ian Borda scored followed by a centre break by Vassallo to give Kavallieri a deserved half-time lead - 17-10.

In the second half, a Doublesin penalty extended the lead but Kavallieri suffered from their now notorious temporary decline and Stompers started to really pressure them, using their speedy backs.

Several times they created promising situations but over-anxiousness sabotaged their efforts.

Time and again they held the ball a fraction too long while running across, lofted easy interceptions and came up too quickly so that the ball was passed flat or behind.

Mirabelli was unusually indecisive at half-back. This helped Kavallieri to use their grim determination and destroy most attacks. Two good tries were scored, however, by Camilleri and Fountain to level the scores with about 15 minutes to go.

At this point, Kavallieri's character resurfaced. The final minutes were battled equally until a fine last-ditch effort by Kavallieri.

A rolling maul was launched a full 35 metres from the line and was given such momentum that it seemed moving at running pace all the way to the Stompers line, where Vassallo wrenched and twisted his way to score the winning try in the last seconds of the game.

It was such a dramatic finish to an excellent game and really a shame that one side had to lose.

Meanwhile, the stage is now set for two interesting games at Marsa on Saturday. Visiting side Durham City take on a Cisk Lager XV at noon, followed by Royal Navy vs La Vallette XV.