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화요일, 27 10월 2009 18:15 |
 | | survivors-devils |
The Oakwood Seoul Survivors capped off what is likely to be their final Yellow Sea Cup match for 2009 with a hard-fought 22-3 victory over long-time rivals the Beijing Red Devils.
In a later than usual 4pm kick-off, the Survivors made tough work of their fall outing as the light dimmed over Seoul’s Jamwon rugby pitch. The undermanned Beijing showed huge mettle in defence and good tactical nouse to lead 3-0 at the break, via a penalty chance from one of the Seoulites’ numerous ruck infringements in the first half. A torrent of penalties against the locals and poor handling skills contributed to a lacklustre opening half and Seoul did itself no favours when hardy warhorse Brian Bruckman was binned before the break for dangerous play.
The home team spurred itself into action in the second half, down to 14 men and under huge pressure from the crowd, managing to slot their own penalty opportunity and level the scores at 3-3 through the boot of five-eighth Richard Jones. Rolling the reserves ten minutes into the second spell worked wonders for the Grey and Blacks, with massive bench contributions from forwards John Goddard, Jeff Rands and wrecking machine Tobias Jerling, ensuring the home squad front foot ball and turning around a previously stagnant effort. Also, some incisive running from debutant fullback Adrian Konstant off the bench, brought much needed attacking focus in the backline.
The improved performance led to Seoul finally breaking the deadlock midway through the second half, when captain and man-of-the-match Simon Walsh regathered a lucky bounce to score from 15 metres out and send a ripple through the crowd. Walsh’s try signalled a dip in fortune for the Devils and prompted the Survivors to throw around a lot more ball and successfully find space in a tired Beijing defensive line. A brilliant team movement was finished off by centre Kurt Taogaga, juggling a Walsh reverse flick pass to barge over the line and send the game almost out of the Devil’s reach. Number eight John Goddard then put the final nail in the coffin showing great strength and vision to crash down and send the supporters into overdrive and allow the home side to remain without loss at Jamwon in 2009.
Nevertheless, the local boys were lucky to come away with such a score-line which rather flattered the Survivors and wasn’t a fair indication of the Devils excellent defensive effort. Had the Devils travelled with a full complement of players, the outcome could have been very different. The Survivors will take a few hard lessons from the game, while Beijing will take heart in the fact that they kept a normally rampant Survivors scoreless for 40 minutes with only 17 players to call on. Despite the win, the Survivors lack of a bonus point leaves the fate of the Yellow Sea Cup out of their hands. The Devils now face favourites Shanghai in the Chinese capital. All the Survivors can do is watch and wait. |
