ARCHIVED NEWS
2002 | 2001 | 2000
Another Nailbiter, Another OMBAC Victory (Try In The Waning Moments Provides Winning Margin)
31 March 2001 - San Diego, CA - For the second time in three weeks, OMBAC scored a try in the dying moments of a match to win on the road.  Scrumhalf Mark Easbey's try, just two minutes from time, proved to be the difference as OMBAC came back to defeat the Unicorns 15-12 in Huntington Beach today in the Southern California regular season finale.  The win boosts OMBAC's record to a league best 9-1 and earns them the #1 seed for the Southern Cal playoffs. Just like in OMBAC's Super League match today, the referee had a big say in the way the game was played.  OMBAC heard the referee's blast time and again in the first 20 minutes of the match and both teams had a difficult time in finding a rhythm. OMBAC got on the board first on a Kyle Aspinall penalty 15 minutes in but the Unicorns kicked a penalty to level the score two minutes later after OMBAC was pinged for an infraction.  Guy Dotan remained on his scoring streak as he went through the Unicorn defense on second phase possession for his third try in as many weeks.  Aspinall's attempt at the extras was no good and OMBAC settled for the 8-3 lead at the turn. The Unicorns enjoyed the wind at their backs in the second half and kept play bottled up in the OMBAC half for most of the remainder of the match. OMBAC's defense managed to keep the Unicorns out of the try zone but three penalties gave the hosts the 12-8 lead with less than four minutes left in the match. OMBAC spent the next two minutes wisely working the ball through the hands, penetrating into Unicorns' territory.  Replacement prop Josh Bautista had a couple of big runs in phase play and helped take the ball to within the shadow of the Unicorns' try zone.  From there it was all Easbey as he threw the dummy to his forwards and slithered in for the go ahead try.  Aspinall's kick was good to give OMBAC the three-point lead at 15-12.  The visitors staved off any notions of a Unicorns' retaliation and came away with another narrow win. "We'll take the win but costly mistakes and even poorer decision making made this a harder win than it should've been," said OMBAC coach Lin Walton. "We gave up a chance at easy points just before the half and came away with nothing.  That's the third week in a row that that has happened and there's really no excuse.  We've got to make sound decisions.  There's no second sniff from here on out." In the first game of the day, OMBAC IIIs continued their fine play with a 62-10 demolition of the Unicorns' IIs as OMBAC found the try zone on nine occasions. On Saturday, April 21, OMBAC will host the winner of next week's match between Back Bay and the Unicorns in the second round of the Southern California playoffs.  The match will be played at the Little Q. OMBAC's next Super League match is Saturday, April 7 when they host Old Puget Sound Beach at the Little Q.  Please note that the starting time has been rescheduled for a 2:15 p.m. kickoff.
Source: OMBACRugby.com
(top)