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Renegades 10, Teachers 3

Renegades all but wrapped up their second successive league title this weekend winning a tactical battle over main rivals Teachers in cold, blustery conditions at the National Centre.

The defending champions, with the strong, gusting wind at their back in the first half, dominated the opening exchanges with some astute, positional kicking.

A resolute Teachers defence, led by Anthony Cupidor, kept them at bay until a cheeky grubber kick by Renegade back Jay Roobottom saw him collect the fortuitous bounce and score in the corner. The conversion was missed and Renegades went into the half with a tenuous 5-0 lead.

Teachers began the second half full of promises and Chris Naylor nailed a long wind assisted penalty to close the gap to 5-3.

When Renegade back row, Larry Daniels was sin-binned for a cynical professional foul, the pundits were predicting a Teachers romp.

It was then that Teachers, inexplicably, lost their focus as Renegades began to string together several passages of play.

Surging runs and good ball retentions skills by Mike Williams and the burly Paul Jones, saw James Holburn uncork Greg Garside down the wing.

Garside outstripped the covering defence of Derek Hurdle to score an attractive try in the corner.

The conversion was missed and with a 10-3 lead Renegades began to assert their ascendancy.

They were unfortunate not to extend their lead when a solid platform and driving maul was squandered by Tom Kelly, who comically touched down short of the line- having confused the 5-metre line for the try line.

Mariner's Ladies 8, Police Ladies 1

Between the men's games Mariner Ladies took on Police Ladies. In a keenly contested game it was the Mariners women who looked sleek and well oiled. Michelle Berendt scored a hattrick, Jodi Crawford scored two tries, Linda Scully, Joanna Turner and Jill Brydon each scored for the Mariners.

Julia Mansfield scored the lone Police try with the referee disallowing what appeared to be 2 perfectly good Police tries. In the end it was Mariners who comfortably ran away with an 8-1 performance.

Police 29, Mariners 3

Police paid a resounding tribute to their fallen team-mate Paul Marsden with a performance full of passion and grit to win an emotionally charged encounter with Mariners on Sunday.

The game, dubbed the Paul Marsden Memorial Match in honour of the player who died tragically while playing in last year's corresponding fixture, began with a minute's silence.

Playing into the wind, with Paul Marsden's family watching from the sidelines, Police made the perfect start as Ryan Summerville powered over the line from a quick tap and go free-kick deep in Mariners' territory.

Mariners were back in it moments later when Scrum half Mark Pomroy knocked over a lengthy penalty to make it 5-3.

But Police continued to exert the forward dominance and from an ensuing scrum, Mariners were driven back.

The evergreen Gareth Davies pounced on the untidy ball as it popped out and with a burst of speed belying his advancing age he dashed past a stunned Mariners' back line to touch down for a 10-3 half-time lead.

Having soaked up an initial onslaught from Mariners in the second half, Police began to shrewdly use the gale force winds to their advantage.

A probing 60 metre kick by captain Mike Kane resulted in a Mariner lineout five metres from their try line.

Mariners won the set piece but Police flanker Summerville burst through and charged down Mariner standoff Lochlan Armor's desperate clearance. Police substitute Glen Corke snared the blocked kick and quickly grounded the ball with a bemused Mariner pack looking on in stunned disbelief. Kane missed the kick but Police had gained the upper hand leading 15-3.

A brief Mariners' fightback was quelled before Summerville made another telling contribution bamboozlng the Mariners defence with an outrageous side step and dummy before sprinting to the line for the try of the day. Kane converted to make it 22-3.

Police's commitment and aggression continued into the dying minutes as standoff Andrew Flint cleaned up from the base of the ruck and bulled his way over from eight metres out.

Kane closed the scoring with the long-range conversion taking to score to 29-3 at the final whistle. It was game surely befitting the memory of the popular Paul Marsden.

After the game, in a crowded Police Recreation Club, Paul Marsden's framed rugby shirt was unveiled by Assistant Commissioner Carlton Adams and hung in a place of tribute. n

Sean Field Lament is the public relations officer for the Bermuda Rugby Football Union.[[In-content Ad]]

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