Match Recap - Hornets vs SMRFC - 09/16/2017
An unseasonably warm start to the Cup season as Sunday Morning greeted the Hornets at Lucier Park to renew their annual rivalry. Despite the hot weather and late change of venue, the Hornets got off to a hot start and a beautifully weighted chip ahead from Brad Bearden down the right touchline caught the Sunday back 3 napping and he touched down in the right corner for the first try of the season. Tough sideline conversion attempt from Zach sailed wide, leaving the score at 5-0 in favor of Hornets after 5 minutes. Despite being the first game of the year, both teams showed good continuity in retaining possession and some good sets of hands. After working their way downfield, the Hornets secured a penalty right in front and Zach slotted the penalty from 30 meters out to put the Hornets up 8-0 after 12 minutes. From a counter attack down the right hand side, Brad Bearden put over another perfectly placed chip ahead which Sai scooped up for his first try as a Hornet. This time Zac was able to nail the difficult conversion to put the Hornets up 15-0 after 16 minutes. Both teams settled in to their patterns after this, with some promising chances ultimately undone by some untimely mistakes and some great defense. Sai offloaded in a tackle to send Brian Saak away down the left touchline but desperate cover defense from SMRFC made a great effort to cut him down 5 meters from the try line. As the half wound down, Sai took a quick tap from a penalty inside the Sunday 22 and broke tackles to score the last try of the half. Successful conversion made the halftime score 22-0 to the Hornets. The second half started with more of the same as Zach found space off the back of a midfield scrum and found the baby giraffe in support and Brad Christ took it the distance for the first try of the second half. Conversion went wide, making it 27-0 Hornets after 46 minutes. The rest of the game was a war of attrition as both teams started to feel the effects of 100 degree weather. Missed tackles and dropped balls became more prevalent on both side, but both teams battled on in the tough conditions. Sai was able to score another try at 65 minutes to secure a hat-trick in his first game for the Hornets. Zach’s conversion made it 34-0. SMRFC battled to the end and were rewarded with the closing try at the 76 minute mark. Full-time score was Hornets 34, Sunday Morning 5. With the win the Dan Young trophy goes back to the Hornets. Man of the match was Sai.
Score – Hornets = 34 (Tries – Sai x 3, Brad Bearden, Brad Christ; Conversions – Zach = 3/5; Penalties – Zach = 1/1), SMRFC = 5
Scrums – Hornets = 5/9 (56%), SMRFC = 8/8 (100%)
Lineouts – Hornets = 10/17 (59%), SMRFC = 5/8 (62%)
Penalties – Hornets = 10, SMRFC = 12.