McSorely's Match Report - Marauders vs Kowloon 24/10/2018 - by Gujral and Rumble

The official first home game of the season for the Sandy Bay Marauders proved to be a neck-to-neck encounter and a thriller for the spectators as the Sandy Bay Marauders took on the Kowloon Rugby 4 sadly going down 13-14.

The game kicked off and the Marauders got the early ascendency with some dominant collisions from the forwards. Good build up play and solid scrumming, led to an early score for Lawrence Rumble who just had to do the easy bit after good forwards dominance. Conversion missed. What followed was a period of continued Marauders dominance and some arguably horrible refereeing decisions, including a clear try being disallowed for a knock on. Even the Kowloon players were surprised at this one. Several debatable penalties to Kowloon were follow by a quick tap and go from inside their own 22. For all their hard work, our Maruaders were unable to stop the 17yr old winger sprinting 70m to touch down under the sticks. Conversion a formality. The Marauders got back to their structures and worked their way back into the game opting for points just before half time to go in 8-7 up at the break.

The second half followed a similar theme, Marauders dominance, Kowloon hanging on with the help of their referee giving dubious penalties at will whenever the Marauders looked set to score. The obligatory Marauders yellow card was dished out to Kaiwan Turel and we had a match on our hands. After good build up play, Andrew Stidworthy embarked on one of his trademark 30m and 8 defenders beaten runs which sadly led to another dubious penalty for not releasing on the opposition 5m line. What followed was comical at best, Marauders on the front foot, ball carelessly kicked away, and a 105m kick return try under the poles. Conversion a formality.

The Maruaders dusted themselves off and came again, led ably by the forwards and eventual man of the match Jack Carson. A lineout on the 40m line led to a Harrison Standish try who managed to hold on to the ball for almost 40m after a lineout as the locks Jasmeet Gujral and Tom Alcorn drove him to the score line. Conversion missed. The final passage of play led to arguably the most comical scene of the day, a Kowloon scrum on their own 10m line being destroyed by the dominant Marauders pack which drove them back and out on their try line. No scrum penalty. No time for the lineout. Game over.

Kowloon and their referee managed to sneak the victory with a closing score of 13-14.

With some key players still out with injury and half recovered comebacks from some others, the Marauders managed to dominate the game in all facets apart from the one that counts. With a bit more patience and lot more composure, Marauders have a great opportunity to put a win on the board in the upcoming game against Scottish.