Rugby League: Kavallieri defeats Wolves in Cisk Championship Game

Torrential rain did pour down on Saturday, testing the resolve of players and spectators alike. Prior to the first game which kicked off at 13.00, a burst of rain created havoc, as the teams prepared to run on.

But by kick off the clouds had parted and it all was going to plan, as the visiting Referee Tom Read from Leicester, got the game under way.

Kavallieri took just four minutes to break down the Wolves defence with Jake Pace (10) running an angle to the posts, after his forwards had given him front foot ball, as they surged towards the line. Aidan Dwight Mallia (20) kicked the conversion and Kavallieri were up by 7 points to 0.

Wolves played from deep from the restart with Dayle Calleja(11) streaking down the sideline, then as he was tackled, Kavallieri were penalized for not rolling away and Virain Hariramani(10) stepped up and put Wolves on the board, at 7 points to 3.

Kavallieri were playing all the Rugby and had some big shoves in the scrum, but often lost their patience to build phases and then made mistakes in the heat of the battle.

Wolves were hanging in there and Hariramani (10) kicked another penalty to edge his team closer at: Kavallieri 7, Wolves 6.

A great run by Ryan Felice (9) down the touchline and just as he looked like scoring a flying Hariramani crashed him into touch.

Kavallieri mounted a series of attacks on the Wolves’ tryline, which couldn’t break through, but then from a tapped penalty close to the line, Josef Vassallo bashed his way over to score, with Mallia’s conversion it was: Kavallieri 14, Wolves 6.

To end the half.

Two minutes into the second half and Jake Pace struck again, stepping into the defensive wall, he looked to offload and the tacklers drifted away from him, to clear a path to the line. Kavallieri 21, Wolves 6, with Mallia’s conversion.

Wolves went through a period of ill-discipline, then along with the injection of Joeeph Cutajar(20) off the bench Kavallieri started dominating the territory. Galdes(3) running strongly bashed his way over to score, Mallia kicked the conversion to make it Kavallieri 28, Wolves 6.

Wolves didn’t give up and competed with intent, Nick Xuereb(2) had a good run up the middle of the pitch, but it fizzled out as he ran away from his support. Ian Grima (16) was also on the charge, Philippe Ioffe(13) ran hard but the passes sometimes did not stick as Wolves tried to move the ball around.

Jethro Zammit Randich(15) split the defence with a few strong runs and if he had looked to set up his wingers, who were running wide they could have scored another three tries. Wolves laid siege to the Kavallieri line for the last 10 minutes but could not break down the Kavallieri defence.

The final score was: Kavallieri 28, Wolves 6.

Referee: Tom Read(Leicester)

TJs: Mauro Micelli & Maria Spiteri.

Match Commissioner: Robert Portelli.

Men of the Match:

Kavallieri: Jake Pace (10)

Wolves: Virain Hariramani (10)

The Overseas versus Falcons game was abandoned at half time, as the torrential rain, which fell nonstop throughout the 40 minutes, had created puddles of water, which had become a potential drowning hazard, if someone was trapped at the bottom of a ruck. Also with the Lightening moving onshore, the safe decision for players and spectators was to abandon the game, with the visiting Referee Steve Randle from Medway, Kent, whistling to end the game.

Match report by Bryan Corlett