Flowers hat-trick breathes fire into Dragons
Another great afternoon of rugby on Saturday at the Aboitiz Field saw the Cebu Dragons play some of their best rugby of the year to comfortably beat the Low Flyers, scoring six tries to four. This was a hard fought match, with the Low Flyers, missing a few key players such as the holidaying Hola Iketau, outplayed by the revitalised Dragons.
This main match was supplemented by two Sevens games – the Pink Dragons battled magnificently against the Komodos in the mixed event, but unfortunately the greater ball winning capacity of the Komodos saw them running out winners by five scores to nil. The other Sevens match saw a much closer game, with the Komodos just losing out to their senior rivals, the Dragons. In fact the Komodos battled really hard and it took a last play of the game try, by captain Noel Flowers to take the honours.
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National hero Noel Flowers, on duty for the Philippines |
Back to the main event, which saw the Dragons, following their disappointing display against the touring Manila Hapons in their last outing, come back firing on all cylinders. Despite some valiant attempts by the Low Flyers to stop the Dragons speedy backs, the Dragons took full advantage of clean quick ball from scrum half Jerry Branzuela and then used their pace and good handling, peppered with some well-worked moves, to run the Low Flyers off their feet.
It was only at the set piece where the Low Flyers were to the fore, demolishing the Dragons scrum and having supremacy at the line-out. However in the open the Dragons tackled well and competed at the breakdown, nullifying the Low Flyers advantage. The only drawback for the Dragons was their paucity to offend at the breakdown, either not releasing or playing the ball on the deck.
Following the usual frenetic start, referee Phil Mounsey had occasion to warn players on both sides to curb their enthusiasm and play the game within the laws. The game then settled down and the spectators were treated to some great running rugby; a thing sorely missed during the recent Northern hemisphere autumn internationals.
The Dragons scored first from their own half and although the Low Flyers never gave in, they never got to parity. It seemed every time they got to within one score, the Dragons pressed the accelerator again to score and retain the lead. In the end the margin of victory was two tries giving a score-line of 30-20.
Try scorers for the Dragons were Noel Flowers with a hat-trick, Lester Loma, Cedric Yago and Dennis Panteleon and for the Low Flyers, Jamie Whitaker, Cesare Delorme, Olivier Rambeau and William Harris.
The Dragons Annual Challenge now hinges on the last game of the series, with the Low Flyers needing a win to force a play-off (details of which are to be decided.)
This match will take place on the 12th December and will be followed by the club’s annual dinner and awards evening at the Cebu Sports Exchange Bar & Grill.
Text courtesy: Phil Mounsey
Image courtesy: Sam Chittick
