Kavallieri Blue Label 24
Stompers TGIFridays 27

Probably the best match this season when an injury-hit Kavallieri recovered their famous spirit and showed absolute discipline to give favourites Stompers a severe fright.

From the start Kavallieri were committed to an immediate attack. The Stompers pack was hard pressed to keep them out and the inevitable score came when the ball was won and spun out along the line to Attard who cut back inside. The ball was then sent out again to Vella who went over in the left corner.

The standard of rugby from both sides was excellent.

The Kavallieri impetus was reduced when Bonavia had to leave the field with a hamstring problem, but Vassallo went close with a typical charge through weak tackling.

Grima was stifling much of Satariano's potential by close marking, but suddenly Stompers showed their flair and Malcolm Attard was through, chased all the way by Doublesin.

As he dived over the line Doublesin turned him, the ball was dropped - no try, which was a perfect example that you should never give up in rugby.

Stompers came back into the game as the half went on and Attard broke through again but a scoring pass was dropped. Finally, they drove over in the forwards and Mifsud was credited with the try. The half ended at 5-5.

Stompers started the second half in higher gear and soon created a big overlap for Nicolic to score, converted by Chas. This was followed by a Malcolm Attard try - Stompers opened a 12-point lead.

Good positional kicking and Kavallieri's grit inspired them to a series of formidable forward drives. Big prop Pace scored his first try in five years, converted by Rod Attard, and Vassallo then ran the ball in with his renowned power... suddenly the scores were equal again.

Fountain turned the game Stompers' way again with a superb solo breakthrough and run to score which Chas converted. Chas added another penalty to carve out a ten-point lead and it looked all over.

This just inspired Kavallieri yet again and they launched such a series of fierce disciplined forward attacks that Stompers lost their own discipline.

Eventually, the ball was pushed wide as far as Vassallo who crashed through for his second try, Rod Attard converted and there were only three points in it.

However, Stompers were able to hang on until the final whistle and must have been relieved.

Great credit must be given to Kavallieri coach Richard Beerman. He motivated his team to raise their game.

A worrying element was the crumbling of Stompers' discipline in the face of pressure, so they incurred two yellow cards which greatly hampered the team effort.

Referee Steve Busuttil had a fine match.

Overseas Hopleaf 50
Hibs Sharks Strongbow 0

Overseas started strongly, with Tonna, Lewis and Newbould scoring early tries. Then the heavens opened up and the game became difficult to follow.

In spite of this, the standard of play was high and the renowned determination of the Hibs Sharks forwards meant that Overseas had to work hard.

The condition of the pitch deteriorated in the downfall, during which 'glue hands' Allen managed to score four more tries for Overseas.

However, the team might do better if he offloaded the ball more often instead of driving on alone... support and offloading are the basis of successful modern rugby.

Veteran Welsh hooker Dave Goodwin won five important balls against the head in the tight scrums. This is an aspect of the game of rugby which is often lost to spectators, but is important in that it catches defences off guard.

Women's friendly

Malta Selection 70
HMS Illustrious 10

In a 15-a-side non contact match, the Malta girls were just far too fit and fast for HMS Illustrious' side. The game was played in four quarters of 15 minutes each.

The Malta tries were scored by Charlene Vassallo 4, Colette Abela 3, Sarah Vella 3, Charmaine Gauci 2, Ritienne Bondin and Brenda Cutajar.

Ben Bennett Cup

Kavallieri 63
Panthers Yada 0

Kavallieri are far superior this season and they ran in nine converted tries against the improving, but still unsure, Panthers.

The difference is that the Kavallieri girls have played against foreign opposition and also Oxford University and enjoyed coaching from Penguins as well as the long build-up period with their own coach, Bobby Bonavia.

They are just far more experienced than the other clubs.