Match Report: |
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July 23, 2005 Hamilton Hornets Senior Men continued their assault on the top spot in the NRU B division with their most impressive defensive display of the season. The Hornets travelled to Cambridge (#1 team in the league) on Saturday and denied the Pirates' efforts to get on to the score sheet. From the first scrum of the game, it was clear that the Hornets' forwards were not planning to take one backwards step. The Hamilton pack won their scrum comfortably and beat Cambridge off of several of their own put-ins. The forwards' lineout was working equally well with lock, Dave Morrison, and prop, Chris Lawson, solidly supporting 8-man, Geordie McDougall, as he stole several Pirates' lineouts. Not to be out done on the day, the Hornets' backs were awesome in defence against a Cambridge side in possession of probably the fastest back three in the league. The backs marked their opposite numbers superbly, closed holes as quickly as they appeared and attacked ruthlessly when opportunities arose. Winger, Alan Brown, was a tackling machine for the full 80 minutes. The first score of the game came after 11 minutes. Cambridge gave away a penalty in the Hornets' half. Junior stand-off, Steve Ferreira, then kicked a 50-metre spiral into touch to set up a Hornets lineout inside the Cambridge 22m. Chris Lawson crashed onto the ball from the resulting lineout for his first try of the season to put Hamilton ahead by 5. Cambridge then showed why they are the number one team in the league with spells of sustained pressure and some great defensive work of their own. Hamilton were denied another score until the last 3 minutes of the half. The forwards again provided the platform for the backs with a well-won scrum inside the Pirates' 22m. The ball was worked out to crashing outside centre, Steve Reise, whose hard running lines proved too much for the Cambridge defence as he crossed the try line for his 5th try of the season. Scrum-half, Peter Van Zyl, converted the try to maintain his lead in the points standings. At the half-time break, Coach Lende was full of praise for the guys' first-half efforts but warned them that a 12-0 score line meant that the game was far from over. Mike asked the players to think of the second half as a new game with a score of 0-0. Cambridge came out hard in the second half. Both teams continued to defend well and the final Hornets try did not come until about 6 minutes from full time. Peter Van Zyl showed some South African magic with a nicely weighted, 20-metre, up and under which he caught himself and off-loaded to Steve Reise. Steve then passed to his crashing centre partner, Matt Barrett, who went over for a season high 6th try. Final score: Hamilton 17 - Cambridge 0. Congratulations to all players on this fine win. Too many players had outstanding games to pick a man of the match. Hamilton now awaits Grimsby for the final home game of the season in Hamilton on August 6th. Match report by: The Hamilton Hornets always welcome new Junior and Senior members.Call the club house at 905.575.3133
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