Falcons continue to dominate

By Phil Gibbs

Overseas v Kavallieri 5-21

From the kick off, Overseas pushed hard in the attack, pinning Kavallieri down in their own 22. Overseas were struggling to establish an early rhythm, and after a sustained spell of pressure when they were put on the back foot, the ball broke loose to Sixtine Chambouton who spilled the ball forward. Playing the advantage, Amanda Cassar picked up, cut left and made 20 metres of valuable ground before unleashing a pass to supporting runner Jacqueline Richard, who made no mistake with the finish. Cassar converted to give Kavallieri the early lead 7-0.
From the restart, Sairita Cassar smashed her way through the centre to the Kavallieri 22-metre line, but Chambouton held on in the tackle and Kavallieri won a penalty. They ran it back to halfway, and from the ensuing ruck, Cassar, who was sorely missed by Kavallieri last week, dashed down the left wing, neatly sidestepped the onrushing tackler, and darted over to touch down under the posts. She converted her own try to leave the half-time score at 14-0
In the second half, Overseas made a cardinal error from the kick off after Overseas knocked on. The ball was picked up by Sairita Cassar but, with the referee playing advantage, she stood still in anticipation of the whistle. Quick as a flash, Maria Spiteri plucked the ball from her hands, ran half the length of the pitch and scored under the sticks. Amanda Cassar struck the conversion cleanly to bag the extra two points and give Kavallieri a 21 point lead.
Shortly afterwards, Kavallieri lost Abby Attard to the sin bin for a high tackle, and this seemed to rouse Overseas from their uncharacteristic torpor, and they launched their first meaningful attack from halfway. The ball went cleanly through four pairs of Overseas hands before Cassar knocked on with the try line in sight. From the scrum, Kavallieri won the ball and Galea threw a pass to Myra Bonello, who attempted an impossibly long pass out to her winger. Wendy Pace pounced on the misdemeanour and intercepted the ball to leave her an easy run to the line.
With 5 points under their belts, Overseas started to find some much-needed passion, and only a deliberate knock on by Richard foiled a dangerous breakaway move. With Richard in the sin-bin, Overseas pressed Kavallieri back from the penalty on halfway to the 5-metre line. Sairita Cassar broke through the defence again and her pass found Noemi Perez lurking on the left wing. Instead of touching down, she tried to run in under the posts and was bundled over the dead ball line to waste the scoring opportunity. The final whistle came soon after, and Kavallieri left the field 21-5 to the good.
Star player – Amanda Cassar
Referee – Sam Ramage

Falcons vs Kavallieri 27-5
In the morning’s second game, Falcons beat Kavallieri 27-5, with two tries coming from Kimberly Riolo, and one each for Sylvia Gambino, Caroline Gafa and Marion Azzopardi. Kavallieri scored their only points when Falcons’ Kimberly Riolo was yellow carded for putting in a reckless high tackle on Maria Spiteri, stopping her from scoring a certain try. The penalty try should have come then, but the referee waited until the next infringement under the posts before awarding it.

Falcons vs Overseas 31-5
In the final match, Falcons outplayed Overseas to win 31-5, with a brace of tries from the free-scoring Sylvia Gambino in the first half and one from Kimberly Riolo. She scored again in the second half, and Marion Azzopardi also ran in what turned out to be the best try of the day, when she beat four tacklers in a 50-metre jinking run to the line. Sairita Cassar scored a fine consolation try for Overseas.