Ray Elliott Cup CHAMPIONS 2014!

On a day of glorious sunshine, to the point that we thought spring was on the way, Swieqi Overseas ran out the winners defeating Sliema Stompers by 28 points to 17 in this first game of the season, playing for the Ray Elliot Cup..

Refereed by new addition to the Malta Referee’s Association ranks, Mr Killian O’Brien, it was a game that had a nervous start with wrong options and dropped balls, with both teams trying to figure out just what kind of players they had in their midst.

Overseas raced out to a 10 nil score in the first 15 minutes, with Stompers still trying to find their game, it took them 15 minutes, before they started to get the ball wide to their strengths and scored two tries.

We touch judges were wired up with speakers and microphones and it helped us feel part of the game listening to Killian’s directions to each team and being able to draw his attention to replacements or any other issues that needed to be looked at. Oh modern technology! 🙂

Stompers came back into the game in the second half and took the lead, but a bit of magic from Vince Stivala, scooping up a loose ball at top speed and heading for the try line changed the momentum again. He had also scored the opening try running wide down the touchline to score in the first half.

Both teams looked a bit rusty, but being the first game of the season it was understandable.

Mrs Elliot accompanied by her son, presented the winner’s Trophy to the Overseas Captain, Vince Stivala.

We look forward to a great season of Rugger and hope to be able to return to using pitch 1 in a few weeks after the re-seeding.

Article by Bryan Corlett

A big thank you to Mark Cassar Photography for the incredible aerial photo of a Rugby Scrum taken during the game between Swieqi Overseas RUC and Stompers RFC.