Umee Gibraltar Rugby Championship Round 5

IBEX Buccaneers 38 - 0 InLine Framing Straits Sharks

Another glorious day at the Europa Sports Complex for the penultimate round of the U-mee GRC Championship but, unfortunately, both games were impacted by the Scorpions and the Sharks having to forfeit their games due to a lack of player numbers.  Both games, however, were played out due to the assistance of the opposing teams sharing players and Dave Barley and Phil Nilson having a run-out.

There was a feisty start from the Sharks, but it was the Buccaneers that took control of the game from early on and it was only their errors that prevented them from getting on the scoreboard sooner. As it was, they had to wait ten minutes before breaking the Sharks defence with the ball worked out to winger Foster, who skipped a tackle and raced in from halfway to open the scoring.  Despite the Sharks efforts, their 14 men were struggling, and the Buccaneers were winning the battle upfront.  Fly-half Lewis was sharp and always looked dangerous and a long pass cut out the defence for Neave to score in the corner.  Regaining some possession and control, the Sharks traded territory with the Buccaneers but as the clock slipped towards the last ten minutes of the first half, and having lost a man through injury, the Buccaneers struck again and added three more scores before the break, to lead 31-0.

Within ten minutes of the second half, the Buccaneers had added another try, from Loddo but, unfortunately, further injuries took the Sharks below the required numbers to safely compete, and the game was called to a halt with a 38-0 victory for the Buccaneers.  As with the earlier match, with a mix of the players, the remaining half hour of the game was played to its conclusion with free-running from both sides and the Buccaneers notching up a further half dozen scores to one from the Sharks. With the advantage of the breeze, Jones was keeping the ball in the Scorpions 22 with great positional kicking and from another Buccaneers power play, Loddo crashed over to give them the lead. It looked like the Buccaneers were beginning to take control, but a great break from the Scorpions turned the tables and a scoring opportunity was only stopped by a try-saving tackle from Foster.

A disappointing way to end what had been a tough encounter but it was good to see the game being played out, albeit in a more friendly nature over the last 30 minutes.

With an unbeaten record, the Buccaneers go into the final game of the season against the Stormers in a ‘winner takes all’ contest that will decide this season’s League Champions.

Spirit of the Rock Man of the Match

Man of the Match was awarded to Nick Pitto for scoring two tries for the Buccs and great passing play from his no. 9 position.

The league table as it stands, with one more match to play against the Stormers.