Sunday, August 16, 2009
THE Belait Pythons were celebrating well into last night after winning the Darussalam Cup for the first time after beating the Knights Rugby Football Club 14-5 at the Jerudong International School field.
Capturing their second trophy of the season, the newly crowned three-time league champions cemented their reputation as the team to beat when it comes to local rugby.
Scrum-half Max Seresio scored both their tries, with full-back Petrus Tuan converting the pair.
The Knights handed the Pythons a 10-7 defeat when the two teams met in the Brunei Rugby Football Union (BRFU) Rugby League last week, so the Belait-based team knew what to expect yesterday.
"I am very relieved to have won, it was a tough game and both teams played very careful today (Saturday)," said Pythons' captain Zakaria Hj Hamzah, whose team were beaten finalists last year.
"The Knights are one of the most improved teams in Brunei, in the final after being formed for only two years.
"It was a real territorial game today, a lot of kicking and chasing and hoping they would make mistakes. Our defence played very well today, they hit them all hard," he added.
Controlling the first period, the Pythons penned the Knights into their own half and enjoyed the majority of possession with their good passing game.
After numerous attacking chances, they finally got the try they were looking for at the stroke of half-time after a scrum when the ball was worked to Seresio, the Fijian scoring in between the posts.
The Knights came out in the second half a changed side, putting the Pythons under intense pressure and playing several minutes in their 22-metre line.
A Pythons' clearance from the middle 13 minutes into the second half saw the Knights' blind-side winger Muzani Awang catch the ball on the left and dash all the way to the try-line scoring despite being tackled by Tuan.
They were unable to convert and the momentum shifted once again after that, with the Knights looking tired and lacking the tenacious defending that distinguished them last week.
With their supporters cheering them on, the Pythons once again put their opponents under pressure and scored on the hour-mark after another scrum.
Prop Ngu Yu Teck worked the ball to Seresio who used his pace to evade his defenders and score in between the posts once again.
"It was a good effort from both teams and it was a better game than last week," said the Knights' coach Ben Bourne, adding that he was happy that the team had only let in four tries all season.
After presenting his namesake trophy the Kamaruddin Cup to the Pythons as league winners, BRFU president Dr Hj Kamaruddin Dato' Seri Paduka Hj Talib also presented them the Darussalam Cup.
Labels: Nad :)
