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OMBAC Gets Behind Early, Lose To Belomont 31-20: Second half rally falls short
(San Diego, CA) 15 February 2003 -- Not even the presence of nearly 100 former OMBAC players could rally OMBAC’s current team to victory on Saturday as the locals lost to their long-time rival Belmont Shore 31-20 at the Little Q. The fact that the opposition was Shore was even harder to swallow for many of the retirees as national championship marches of the past more times than not involved Belmont, and more times than not, meant an OMBAC win. An estimated crowd of 700 was on hand for Family Day, which doubled as OMBAC’s home opener. About the only thing that the home fans had to cheer about in the first half was the arrival of Fun-B the clown as Belmont Shore did everything but clown around. There were some brilliant patches of play by both teams but Belmont took advantage of some costly penalties and lack of home-side discipline.  As a result, three converted tries and a penalty kick were registered by Shore against a lone OMBAC three-pointer giving Belmont a commanding 24-3 lead at the break. Although Belmont won the season opener between the two teams 59-17, those who thought another rout was on were truly mistaken. OMBAC came out in the second half and showed that they will be a team to be reckoned with. Two converted tries, one each by Sciaa Taveuveu and Jason Wood, and a penalty by Alistair Steele brought them closer but a Belmont try sealed any chance for an OMBAC win. The loss drops OMBAC to 3-3 in the Southern California First Division while Belmont Shore remains on top of the standings with an unblemished record. “We gave away too many penalties in the first half,” lamented OMBAC assistant coach Bing Dawson. “We also lost our heads which put us a man down and you can’t do that and expect to win against a team like Belmont. It was heartening to see the effort in the second half. We are still expecting a couple more players to strengthen the side so there is optimism.” In the day’s earlier action, Belmont’s second XV defeated OMBAC 28-10. In the first match of the day, OMBAC’s Second Division first XV defeated South Orange County’s firsts 22-17 while the seconds played a 12 on 12 “friendly.” Action resumes at the Little Q this weekend with another full day of rugby. OMBAC’s Second Division second XV kicks off against Riversides’ seconds at 10:00. That game is followed by an 11:30 start between OMBAC’s Div. II first XV against Riversides’ firsts. At 1:00 a Southern California First Division match gets underway between OMBAC and Las Vegas. And at 3:00, the main attraction takes place with OMBAC facing off against San Francisco Golden Gate in a Super League preseason affair. If you plan on making it out to the Little Q on Saturday, enter Qualcomm through the west entrance as admission will be charged at the main gate for a stadium event. As always, admission for OMBAC matches is $5 at the gate. Season tickets, which entitles the holder to a free burger and soda at the match, are also available.
Source: OMBACRugby.com
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