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OMBAC DOUBLE UP ON CHICAGO, WILL BEET BELMONT IN FINAL: The two unbeaten teams to meet in SuperMatch VII
(San Diego, CA) 31 May 2003 -- Under beautiful sunny skies, the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) rugby team continued their march to the Super League championship match with a deserved 28-14 victory over the Chicago Lions at the Little Q today. The victory improved OMBAC’s Super League record to 9-0, the first time they’ve reached this point of the season with an unblemished record. The loss was only the Lions’ second of the year, to go along with a Week Three 35-20 loss to Belmont Shore. OMBAC’s long-time Southern California rival await OMBAC in SuperMatch VII which will be played at San Francisco’s Balboa Park on Saturday. With a significant breeze at their backs in the first half, the home side wanted to get as many points on the board as possible in the first 40. The points started coming early as Eric Anderson, who, along with fellow lock Ben Oakes, were towers of strength in the OMBAC lineout, came down with his first of many clean balls. The drive was immediate and proved too much for the Lions defense as prop John Tarpoff, fresh from his stint with the United States National Team, powered over for the game’s first try at the five-minute mark. Alistair Steele’s conversion attempt clanged off the upright and the lead was 5-0 to OMBAC. Chicago found it difficult to muster much of an attack early on. In fact, it was about 12 minutes into the match before the Lions spent any time at all in OMBAC’s half of the field. OMBAC enjoyed all the chances in the first quarter of the match and were rewarded with a Steele penalty from 35-meters out as referee Jerry McLemore spotted a Lions’ hand in the ruck. The Lions got their game together shortly after Steele’s kick and started to make inroads through the OMBAC defense with some barnstorming runs by center Gary Griffin. Now it was the Lions turn to assert some pressure on the OMBAC defense and although the Lions couldn’t break through the stingiest defense in the Super League, they did enough to provide Duncan Blowers with two easy penalty kicks to bring the score to 8-6. Hanging onto a slim two-point lead, OMBAC responded the best way possible – with a converted try. The Lions had possession but an aimless clearing kick went straight into the hands of Dave DiSorbo. Seeing an open area behind the backline defense, the veteran winger pooched a little kick over the top. The ball took a wicked bounce over a contesting mob of players before being snagged out of the sky by OMBAC center, Siaa Taveuveu. He made a quick flip to the charging Rocky Matatumua and the flyhalf weaved his way through the remaining Lions’ defenders to score under the poles. Steele slotted the easy conversion and the lead was a more comfortable 15-6. OMBAC continued to do most of the pressuring as the half wound down and came away with another three points off the boot of Steele. The halftime score read OMBAC 18 – Chicago 6. Going into a stiff breeze to start the second half didn’t seem to bother the Blue Division champions as they quickly worked their way inside Lions’ territory. Another penalty by the visitors gave Steele another opportunity to extend the lead and just as he’s done down the stretch run this season, the handy fullback drilled it through the sticks to make it 21-6. Chicago started using the wind and spent large chunks of time inside the OMBAC half of the field. Although the OMBAC defense gave way on a couple of occasions, the Lions had a troubling time breaking clear. A third Blowers penalty midway through the second half made the count 21-9. Eight minutes later, Chicago finally crossed the OMBAC tryline as winger David Fee managed to dot it down in a sea of black and blue. The difficult conversion was no good as the lead dwindled to seven points with 15 minutes left on the clock. The OMBAC backrow, a powerful force throughout the entire match, had seen enough at this point and decided to put the game out of reach. Conrad Hodgson, having just returned from back-to-back Man of the Match performances for the National Team, started the clinching movement off with a thundering run ahead. His strength in the tackle allowed him to pop the ball up to #8 Henry Schaaf. As Schaaf met opposition, he too managed to offload to the flying blindside reserve, M.C. Laubscher, who went straight up the guts for the game’s final score. The large crowd on hand enjoyed the entertaining match and gave both teams a loud ovation for a splendid display. For the Lions, they finish up with their best Super League season to date while OMBAC has one more week to see if they can make history by becoming the first team to win championships in the Super League, Division One and Sevens.
Source: OMBACRugby.com
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