January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Police beat down Teachers for first loss
Women
Teachers 8, Police 5
The opening contest saw Teachers playing Police in the ladies. Police have been continually improving and played their part in an exciting game. They took the lead in a game for the first time this season, but unfortunately for them, Teachers had just too much in the end to run out 8-5 winners. The scores for the Teachers were the prolific Joanna Thivierge and Jennifer Crawford with three each, and Melissa Da Ponte and Sophie Lagaière added a try apiece. Julia Mansfield ran in three tries in reply for the Police, with Rachel Black and Lauren Wilson both chipping in with one try each.
Renegades 5, Mariners 2
Next up in the ladies saw undefeated league leaders Renegades take on their closest challengers Mariners in a crucial match. Renegades shot quickly out of the blocks with Laura Haynes scoring in the corner, but quick hands released Amanda Swan to cancel out the opening score. A wonderful dummy saw Chantal Brown get through to put Mariners in front, but that was as good as it got for the ladies in green. Sue Rebello, Amy Harvey, Melissa Field and Haynes again scored to put the 'Gades 5-2 ahead at the break. Their defense held firm in the second half, and they added further tries through Haynes (2), Harvey and Karen Peckett to win out 9-2.
Men
Police 18, Teachers 14
The first men's match saw previously undefeated come up against Police, still looking for their first league win of the season. Police started strongly and their backline again was causing all sorts of problems running some fantastic lines. Teachers were forced to concede a couple of penalties, with Tom Edwards slotting one to edge them ahead. A fine backs move saw Adam Farrell, superb throughout until forced off with a shoulder injury, break through and offload to Dickie Keegan. Keegan chipped the remaining defense and collected his own kick to dive over.
Teachers came back into it and after a brilliant turnover, fantastic passing released Chris Way to score under the posts, converted by Greg Fraser. David Pringle kicked another penalty for Police as they refused to allow their heads to drop. Another wonderful back-line move by the Police had Pringle breaking through the middle to pass out to Keegan, who scampered into the corner for his second try. Pringle converted superbly from the touchline to lead 18-7 at the break.
Teachers upped their game in the second half and they certainly had more possession, but both sides had chances to score. The ever-dependable Kevin Walsh dove over for Teachers, with Fraser again scoring the conversion, to set up a tense final 15 minutes. Pringle almost scored for Police but was just in touch before touching down, and they then had to soak up a huge amount of Teachers' pressure. Dave Porter almost managed to get over for the winning score for Teachers, but Jonathan Cassidy made an amazing covering tackle as Police held on for an 18-14 victory.
Renegades 15, Mariners 0
The Teachers' loss opened up an opportunity for both Mariners and Renegades to close the gap in the match of the day. Both sides were struggling with injury problems and this contributed to making the game a bit scrappier. It also saw the return of a few evergreen players to both sides, coming out of retirement to help out their teams. It was a tight opening period, but Renegades superiority at set pieces put Mariners under a great deal of pressure. The pressure eventually paid off when some lovely passing interplay in the backs set Danny McMillan free to go over in the corner. The 'Gades continued to exert pressure and Tom Healy broke through a gap at the side of a ruck to increase their lead to 10-0, which is how it stayed at the break.
The entire match saw a real war of attrition at the breakdowns, with Renegades' Pete Dunkley, Conor McGlynn and Pete Shillingford engaged in a tough battle with their counterparts Brian Watson, Rich Biram and Steve Robb. Mariners came into it more in the second half and found themselves in the opposition '22 metre area a number of times, but the Renegades defense was resolute. Scott Brown was putting in huge tackles all around the pitch for the Mariners and was fantastic for the men in green. Renegades eventually broke away again with John Gracey released out wide, and he had the space to cross for the final score of the game. The final score was 15-0 to Renegeades.
There is no more adult rugby action until after Christmas. Renegades ladies top the table undefeated while in the men's Teachers are ahead at the top, with Renegades close behind them.[[In-content Ad]]
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