Joes records their first win

After many weeks of hard work, the Joes were finally able to taste their first win of the season. In terms of points scored during the season, they are in the top five, but did not have the results to match these points and their robust style of play.

The Joes can be considered as the unluckiest team in the league so far, having given all the opposition a run for their money. In all of these games they have lost and by very low margins in certain instances, as in the case against Royal when they lost the game through their own foolishness as opposed to Royal supremacy. Had they been given the opportunity to play some of the top teams later in the season, the results could have been different.

DSS have taken on the mantle of the local whipping boys and have now conceded 200 points in the last two games. This is not good for any form of rugby and those that are in charge must sit up and take serious notice of this predicament. As expected there is no change in the position of the top four teams although the performance of Vidyartha over the weekend was disappointing given their loss margin.



The much anticipated Peterite game against Science took place on Saturday amidst a sizeable crowd, despite the attractions of the Carlton Super Sevens being worked off in Bogambara. The Pets made a number of mistakes and their win was not aesthetically pleasing. Their handling of the high ball at a restart was abysmal with the ball sailing over the heads of the forwards and rolling into touch. Similarly when they kicked off at the restart, the kick was too deep to even provide a sniff of a chance to their forwards.



The three quarters ran well and in most instances, the running was incisive and decisive. If they had only resorted to that style of play for the full duration of the game, the score line would have passed the half century mark with ease. There were a number of infringements bordering the ruck area and on numerous occasions they gave away penalties. The fact that these were not within kicking range is inconsequential. This spate of errors prompted the referee to warn both sides. It was not long before both sides had a player sent off for such stupid play. The Peterites were lucky that the referee did not spot a number of occasions when one of their players continued to indulge in late shoulder charges with obviously no arms around. Against a better side and when noticed by the man with the whistle, the opposition will definitely make you pay.



Science for some strange reason opted to have their star centre in a virtually second full back position. If this was to counter the long range kicking missile in Dulaj, then I think that they were over defensive. Whenever Science ran the ball with the three quarters, they looked dangerous and very capable of scoring. The line-outs were not contested and it is quite boring to see this ploy adopted by both sides. The unsung heroes of the day were the Peterite back row, who did yeoman service to secure good ball for the three quarters. The Petes used their three quarters in the first fifteen minutes of the game and possibly in the last ten. The Science team is pretty under rated and for a lack of class and skill they make it up with ferocious tackling and a ‘never say die’ attitude. With more luck and some better handling skills at crucial points in the game, the score line could have been different.  I was also amused to see one of players on the bench with a colourful bib run into the field of play whenever a penalty was awarded long before the Petes had signalled their intention to kick at goal.

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