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CD GRANADA (A) |
Sun
9th Dec 07,
KO 1200 hrs |
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13/01/08 |
CAJASOL OLAVIDE CIENCIAS CR (A) |
20/01/08 |
CLUB RUGBY CORDOBA (H) |
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| Andalucia Division 1 |
| Pos |
Team |
Pl |
Pts |
1 |
CLUB SAN JERONIMO |
6 |
27 |
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2 |
CD GRANADA |
6 |
18 |
3 |
CAMPO GIBRALTAR RFC |
6 |
18 |
4 |
CAJASOL OLAVIDE CIENCIAS CR |
6 |
15 |
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5 |
CR COSTA ALMERIA |
6 |
13 |
6 |
CLUB RUGBY CORDOBA |
6 |
12 |
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| Click here for full table |
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| All of the new season Replica Kit is now available from the online store. |
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| CLUB
RUGBY CORDOBA V CAMPO GIBRALTAR - 21th OCTOBER
2007 |
An very early start on Sunday morning aboard a coach at the front
signalled the start of Gibraltar's away campaign this season, destination:
Cordoba. A four hour drive to the historic city, home of the Pillar
Forest in the renowned Mesquita, the morning after England's defeat
in the rugby world cup final saw a 15 tired faces, some more so
than others, disembark the bus, with 2 further players having made
their own way to the University sports complex.
Unfortunately, this tie coincided with the Trafalgar Memorial Day
Service, meaning a number of Gibraltar's Armed Forces contingent
were also unavailable.As was expected with key players unavailable,
a number of the team played out of position for the Gibraltar squad
to make up the numbers, namely former junior player Andrew Rodriguez
playing on the wing, Barry Imms playing at centre and later at
full back, Albert Loddo performing exceptionally well in the centre,
and more familiar names to the back line, John Dibb and Julian
Leigh also playing out of position to complete the back line..
However this did not deter the team from performing to their absolute
capacity.
The Cordoba side, loudly urged on by their troop of fans, donning
trumpets and flags, and occasionally making use of the advertising
sidings as a form of percussion had talent in the forward pack,
and relied on it throughout. They were by far the best line out
opposition Gibraltar has come up against in recent years, disrupting
Gibraltar line out ball whenever possible. Unfortunately, especially
seeing as the referee, also from Cordoba, turned a blind eye to
it, the same pack could be greatly accused of deliberately slowing
down any Gibraltar breakdown and disrupting any forwards manoeuvre
wherever possible.This included pulling people into rucks, handling
persistently whilst in the ruck, pulling down in the lineouts and,
much to the frustration of the pack, pulling in the scrums in order
to wheel them. This was impacted further by the referee penalising
for a scrum wheeling 45 degrees, never mind giving it time to wheel
the full 90 as defined in the rules. This frustration was evident
from the number of penalties given away by the Gibraltar team,
but after 25 minutes the score stood amazingly respectably at 3-0.
A number of catch and drives by the Gibraltar pack during the course
of the first half, as well as some superbly set up rolling mauls
almost pushed the team over a number of times to score, but they
were held up agonisingly short each time.
A well planned and executed play by the Cordoba back line, which
up till this point had been relatively weak in attack, saw the
home team score in the far right corner. This took the teams into
half time with Cordoba leading 8 points to nil.
A number of substitutions at half time saw Adrian Perera replace
Nick Rammage in the front row, Andy Blackburn moving to the wing
to replace Andrew Rodriguez and Joey Holliday coming on to replace
Andy in the second row. Joey's height brought another dynamic to
the lineout, with Gibraltar securing a little more ball with his
presence.
The second half was again highly focused in the forwards, especially
with the slow ball tactics employed by the Cordoba side. These
frustrations were shown by replacement hooker Adrian Perera, as
he lashed out at yet another Cordoba player with his hands all
over the ruck, earning him a yellow card and 10 minutes in the
bin.
Another catch and drive by the now 7 man Gibraltar pack pressed
the team up towards the 22. A break from the maul saw Cordoba steal
the ball in the ruck, and then fumble on, giving Gibraltar a scrum
bang on the 22 metre line. A quick pick up by number 8 Chad Thomson
got the ball moving, relayed in a tackle to John Dibb, who, assuming
Thomas De Corbier was on the far right wing, put a chip over the
Cordoba back line into a gap in the defensive line up. Unfortunately,
regular speedster De Corbier had switched wings with second row
and therefore relatively slower fill in winger Andy Blackburn.
Blackburn, somehow, managed to get his fingertips onto the cross
field kick from Dibb, and had an clear run over the line, into
the EXTREMELY SHORT dead ball line to bring Gibraltar right back
into the game at 8-5.
With time pressing ever shorter, and only minutes to go, another
forwards drive towards the line got the Cordoba defence on the
back foot yet again. A number of pick and go manoeuvres by the
Gibraltar forwards drew in the Cordoba backs to defend their lines,
leaving an overlap to the right hand side. The back line spotted
this, and managed to get the ball out to Barry Imms who dodged
a number of tackles to crash over the line taking Gibraltar into
a 2 point lead at 8-10. His celebrations however, were deemed "excessive" by
the friendly Cordoba referee, and Barry became the second Gibraltar
team member sent to the bin, for the final 3 minutes of the game.
Gibraltar held out with 14 men on the pitch to see the Cordobians
off, registering their first away, and first over all, win this
season. Final Score, CR Cordoba 8 - 10 Gibraltar
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