Stockholm Exiles Rugby Football Club

Uppsala damer var mycket mera på bettet inledningsvis och deras starka klunga dominerade. Deras anfall var tämligen sega emellertid och Exiles kunde försvara sig väl. Men trycket fortsatte och till sist kunde Uppsala forcera linjen efter en snabb straffspark. 5 - 0 i halvtid med klar fördel Uppsala.
Trycket fortsatte och en tappad boll i Exiles kedja efter 45" gav Uppsalas klunga chansen att plocka upp bollen och driva över. Och matchen efter ett snabbt passningsspel såg ut att ge Uppsala en 15-poängsledning, men spelet återkallades efter en hårfin framåtpassning.
Sedan började matchen svänga, inte minst tack vare Exiles starka bänk. Nu var det Exiles som pressade och Jessica kunde lägga bollen efter 60", även här efter en snabb straffspark. Anna satte sparken och plötsligt stod det bara 10 - 7 till Uppsala. Nu var det Exiles som hade segervittring, men det krävdes en briljant soloinsats av Jessice från egen 22 m. för att avgöra. 12 - 10 och Exiles kan vara mer eller mindre säkra på att gå till slutspelet i höst. De får sällskap av laget som vinner mellan Enköping och Uppsala om ett par veckor. Pluspoäng för Rebecka K. som uthalv (fyller 20 i morgon) och Jessica som hittade segervapnet, men det krävs mycket mera om vi skall rå på Göteborg i höst. Tyvärr svårt att godkänna domarinsatsen. Om man inte tillämpar offside-regeln i rucks och mauls blir spelet omöjligt. Även fördelsregeln bör tillämpas och dammatcher är 2 x 40", ej 2 x 35". Briljant insats emellertid av Guy som klarade av den svåra konsten att vara både assisterande domare och tränare för Uppsala.

Pingvin turned up with 17 players but seemed to have a reasonable squad. Exiles were up 14 - 0 after 5", however, as fullback Matt came into the line and Rhys dummied his way over. Play then evened up a bit but consisted mainly of wave after wave of Exiles attacks. Dusty went over after a good run by Tom, the prop David F. made a break and ran 30 m. to score. Pingvin came into the game more and had some territorial advantage, but then it was one-way traffic again, with Exiles scoring four more towards the end of the half.
Exiles attacked repeatedly from depth, Jakob finishing off a move starting in his own 22 m. , Dusty did the same, starting and finishing off a lovely break, Oscar had a magnificent 80 m. run to score while, finally, Dylan bobbed up as usual to take a scoring pass. 52 - 0 at the break, with Matt putting over 6 out of 8.
Exiles started the second-half very lethargically and little was achieved for the first 12 minutes. Then Paul woke up and scored a hat-trick in 14 minutes and this got the ball rolling again. Replacement Jules ran strongly down the wing to score while David F. scored again after a fine pick up and burst. Then it was replacement David L.´s chance to get the final touch while Dusty ran away to nick a final try. At 95 - 0 with four minutes to go, Exiles went all out for the century but Pingvin stood firm.
Superb service throughout the day by Mark, David F. strong in both tight and loose and giant Daniel proved he is a force to be reckoned with. Rhys popping up everywhere as usual, as did Dustin.
Points best and fairest according to Dylan for first grade today: Dustin 3 p., 1 p. each to Mark, Rhys and David F.
Pingvin held up quite well but were finally overwhelmed, going rapidly backwards at every scrum in the second half. They could find it hard to stay in the top flight next year.

Exiles Twos were hoping for their first win of the season meeting a strong Uppsala side who really needed to win to retain a chance of promotion. More detailed report from our men in Uppsala, but it ended honours even at 24 - 24. In the same Div. 1, Attila extended their lead at the top by beating Södertälje. Exiles Twos will be trying to knock them off their perch in two weeks time when they meet.

Hammarby´s match something of a fiasco against a not too strong Gothenburg. Hammarby ran in tries at will for an 83 - 0 drubbing of the guests. Only eyebrow raiser of the day: Enköping being held to a draw by Spartacus, who will now be favourites to take a place in the top four.