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On Saturday Denia played the last Valencia One Group One League game against local rivals La Safor in Gandia. Both sides knew that they were already consigned to the Relegation Group for the second half of the season, so only pride was at stake. A small but enthusiastic crowd enjoyed the sunshine but the standard of rugby and referring was pretty poor. Denia started with a turnover from the kick off, but a dropped pass in midfield allowed La Safor to clear the danger. Pushing deep into the Denia half, La Safor soon opened the scoring from a catch and drive at the line out, Denia's nemesis throughout the season and especially during this match. Denia responded well but became frustrated with the referee's inability to deal with La Safor players being persistently on the wrong side in the rucks. Penalties against Denia once again gave La Safor territory and a second replica try. Denia dominated the remainder of the first half but an inexperienced back line failed to use the possession provided to any great effect. Towards the end of the half "over aggressive use of the boot" and consequential, albeit unacceptable, dissent saw Denia reduced to 13 men. La Safor failed to take advantage thanks to some gutsy home defence. Midway through the second half La Safor completed the catch and drive hat-trick after a Denia player ignored an overlap, got caught in possession and failed to release the ball allowing La Safor to kick into the corner from the ensuing penalty. 17-0 down with twenty minutes left again saw Denia rally. The forwards began to dominate and the backs finally moved the ball wide and with confidence. Juan burst through the defence to score a try converted by Ian, but all too often the final pass went astray or the wrong option was taken by the Denia three-quarters. Final score 17-7 to La Safor. A disappointing end to a frustrating Phase One for Denia, but with a squad now of over 30 players, a turnaround in fortunes for the second phase must surely be achievable. Both sides enjoyed a third time which included tapas, a raffle, some dubious carol singing and mince pies ! Denia RC: Adam,Adrian,Tony,Dale, Mike,Mateo,Andy,Gevino,Josh,Ian,Raul,Shaun,Juan Luis,Chimo,Yovanny,Pato, Pescata, Juan,Eddie,Hans,Glenn & Nico.
Denia's Cadetes (Under 17s) continued to fly the Denia flag with a hard fought but well deserved victory against Alicante University. With several players injured and unavailable and also having to wait two hours to play due to an administrative error on pitch allocation in Alicante, Denia started slowly. The bigger Alicante pack dominated possession, but solid defence from Denia kept Alicante out and at half time only an Alicante penalty kick seperated the sides. The second half saw Denia much more competitive in all phases, dominating the line outs and solid in scrums. Regular breaks from David, Aidan and Giuliano unsettled the home defence, but try scoring opportunaties failed to materialise due to poor option taking and handling errors. Finally Denia turned a period of sustained pressure into points. Jose found himself five metres from the line, but cut inside and was held up. However, Aidan was on hand to touch down for the try, converted by Santiago. Denia counter attacked from the restart and again found themselves in the Alicante half. Further pressure and a solid forward platform allowed Sergio to cross for the second Denia try, again converted by Santiago. The 14-3 victory keeps Denia at the top of the Alicante Cadetes League and this Saturday they host Orihuela in Denia. Denia RC: Jose,Oliver,Pepe,Bjorn,Angel, Nathan,David,Santiago,Aidan,Giuliano, Loic,Sergio, Tom,Andreas,Danny & Bobby.
Eddie D'Arcy - 680 739 821 -
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www.deniarugbyclub.com
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