Police Team Win Paul Marsden Rugby Trophy
Under overcast skies at the pristine National Sport Stadium North field, Sunday league rugby action resumed after last week’s 42nd Annual George Duckett memorial game which was won by the Police.
In describing the match, a spokesperson said, “The Women’s Touch Rugby League Renegades got a try from Kacie Gaffney in their 1 – 0 win over the Teachers. In the other match the Mariners defeated the Police 3 – 1. The Mariners got 2 Try’s from Deneika Borden and a single try from Heather Wearmouth, while the lone Police Try came from Mika Tomita.
“The first game in the Men’s League saw league leaders Renegades take on their nearest rival Teachers. Both sides were putting together make shift squads with an interesting combination of gnarly veterans and enthusiastic youth players. Renegades had Tom Heally and new comer Brian Archibold playing out of position in the backs. Nation Youth rugby Academy player, and Cedarbridge student Cedric Ennis was making his Senior Rugby debut in a very experienced backline.
“Teachers were lead up front by the sage heads of Nick Ball and Anthony “Church” Cupidore but were also boasting their own Nation Youth rugby Academy players with Bermuda Institute’s Cameron Caines and Berkley’s Jahnico Francis taking their first run out with the senior team. In a dominant first half display ‘Gades displayed excellent ball handling skills with classic controlled phase play. In particular Ennis showed tremendous potential in both attack and defense. After a period of strong possession Renegades opened up the scoring with a converted Paul Kelly try. They followed up shortly with a Paul Dobinson try in the corner after a text book take and drive off a lineout.
“Teachers failed to find any continuity and Renegades superior passing had them control territory and possession. They extended their lead to 15 points just before the half when Archibold, showing his first-class Scottish rugby pedigree, gracefully knocking over a drop goal from 25 yards out.
“The game was grinding out to what appeared to be a comfortable win for ‘Gades when with 10 minutes left in the game Teachers found another gear and lifted their game. Tempers flared and Dobinson was shown a yellow card after a minor scuffle. With the extra man- Teachers took the ascendancy. Strong runs by Teshon DeSilva saw in-roads being made and veteran David Porter pounced over after sustained pressure.
“The ageless Harry Andrews converted to take the game to 15-7. From the ensuing kickoff vintage Teacher’s rugby saw the ball being flicked around and passages of play going from sideline to sideline. Eventually the breakthrough came and Jahnico Francis showed great speed and balance to score a fantastic try from the half way line. The conversion took the score to 15-14 and set up a barn storming finish.
“Brave defence by an embattled Renegades side prevented the upset and referee Richard Foulds final whistle saw Renegades edge out Teachers 15-14 to extend their lead at the top of the table. Teachers will take little solace in the bonus point loss which saw them drop to third place in the league.
“After a poignant minutes silence Mariners and Police kicked off the 9th Annual Paul Marsden game under the watchful eyes of BPRFC Chairman Andrew Wright and Bermuda Heart Foundation executive director Sionna Barton. Police set the tone early and showed a willingness to spin the ball wide.
“Some good forward work by Ben Beasley and Nick Pell set up an early platform and the Police back line shredded the Mariners defence which was caught at sea. Some quick recycling saw Police captain Adam Richards crash over from close to give the Police an early 5 point lead.
“Police continued with highly entertaining rugby and their back line exploited the space out wide. Dangerous runs by National team player Dan Cole and John Stathakis were supported well by the police forwards. However a bustling run by Darren Richardson was wasted after his wayward last pass butchered a sure scoring opportunity.
“Police recovered from the gaffe and soon saw Tom Edwards exuberantly dive over in the corner to extend the lead to 10-0. Mariners reverted to form and began to pound away with their big forwards David Rorke and promising number 8 Rory Dublin making life hard.
“Vanguard defence lead by Nick West and the ever present Corbus Vermaak kept the Greens at bay. But a trade mark surge by Steven Husbands saw the powerful center off load to a supporting Chakote Wainwright-Basden who touched down between the sticks. The conversion brought the half time score to 10-7. Both team continued to play in the spirit of the game and the crowd was left to enjoy a highly entertaining second half. Police took the game by the scruff of the neck when perennial try scorer Paull Davis glided over in the corner to take the score to 17-7.
This was shortly followed by Police’s man mountain Rudolph Van der Westhuizen plowing over and Mike Halbert finishing the Police scoring off after a well worked move. Dan Cole had a good day with the boot converting 3 out of 5 kicks to flatter the score line at 31-7. Police shut down the game with Vermatt leading the way in the tackling count- his efforts earning him Man of the Match honors.
“However, an otherwise clean game was slightly marred when Police second row Dragan Pavkovic was shown a straight red card by referee John Weale. Pavkovic was found exposed out wide and cynically tripped a young Mariners players as he was quickly rounding his man.
“Mariners took advantage of the extra man and eventually James Patterson touched down to make the score line more respectful at 31-14. The final whistle saw a jubilant Police team accept the Paul Marsden trophy from Bermuda Heart Foundation’s Sionna Barton. The bonus point win saw Police leap frog Teachers into second place but with only 3 games left in the season Renegades control their destiny.”
