Denia Rugby Club Lose to Gandia

Monday, 12 November 2007

Denia made the short journey to Gandia to play local rivals La Safor Rugby Club on Saturday. Denia fielded three new players who all made different impacts on the game ! For the second week in succession Denia had a dreadful start. The kick off did not go ten meters, and from the ensuing scrum, a break by the Gandia No.8 saw Denia give away a needless penalty at the ruck.

La Safor reacted the quicker, taking a quick tap and scored in the corner. The restart went dead, again giving the home side the ball and territory. La Safor pinned Denia back in their own half for a period of half an hour, during which they added a converted try and a penalty, as Denia struggled to clear their lines and gave away too many penalties. I

n the last ten minutes, Denia found some continuity, with several penetrating runs up the middle of the pitch, but on three occasions the final pass went astray with the try line beckoning. La Safor led 15-0 at half time. With a few changes and La Safor tiring, Denia dominated the second half, and after a period of sustained pressure, Justin crashed over to score. Again Denia attacked, but the La Safor defence held firm. With the help of a couple of penalties, La Safor finally managed to find their way into the Denia half.

Then one of those frustrating little moments that seem to haunt Denia at the moment occured. From a defensive lineout, Denia won their own ball, as they had done throughout the game and were just about to clear their lines, when the referee blew his whistle and ordered the lineout to be retaken for no apparent reason.

There is no excuse for losing your own ball, but that is exactly what Denia did and from the catch and drive La Safor added a converted try against the run of play for a 22-5 lead. Denia, once again battered the La Safor defence, adding another try from Lee. With La Safor on the back foot, the game was their for the taking but three more times Denia managed to contrive not to score, on one occasion losing the ball over the tryline. A last minute penalty sealed the victory for La Safor 25-10.

On Sunday Denia travel to leaders Tavernes for a cruicial match. With only one win in three and three matches remaining, Denia have to get something out of this game. Denia RC: Adam,Geviny,Pescata,Dale,Jason,Mateo,Andy,Richy,Joe,Lee,Yovanny, Justin,Juan,Chimo,Ian,Juan Luis,Xabia,Shaun,Eddie & Edu Vet.