BSN Tigers beat Oemoemenoe 5-3 to secure the Bondsdag final and head to HRC next weekend in good form for the District championship.

BSN brought two Benjis teams by coach and car to the Bonsdag hosted by Oemoemenoe in Middelburg.  The Benjis were split into two groups with the Tigers up against Sparta, Tilburg A and Etten Leur; and T-Rex playing against Oemoemenoe, Tilburg B and the Bassets.

The Tigers moved comfortably through their group.  The first game was the toughest, where they won 6-4 against Tilburg A.  They were half asleep in the first half after the long journey, but woke up at half time to win through.

What do we do now? Or, “Oemoemenoe?”, as they say in Zeeuwse

What do we do now? Or, “Oemoemenoe?”, as they say in Zeeuwse

Their other games against Etten Leur and Sparta were not as close, ending in 13-1 and 14-0 wins for BSN, although the games did seem to be played with 20 minute halves, rather than the usual 10.

In the other group, T-Rex won two and lost one to come second in the group and third overall for the Bondsdag.

In T-Rex’s first game against Tilburg B, they were three up at half time with an energetic performance, where they held most of the possession, but played narrow through the middle on a big pitch.  On the occasions, when they did go wide, they were penalised by an indistinct sideline and called in touch.  In the second half, T-Rex continued to tackle, ruck and win more ball than Tilburg and closed the game 9-1.

You can have my boot, but the try is mine

You can have my boot, but the try is mine

Their second game was against Oemoemenoe, a big and capable team.  Their smallest player was as big as Rory and their biggest was the size of our coach, Scott.  T-Rex competed with little possession and kept the deficit to 3-0 at half time.  There were some performances of real heart against a much bigger team, with Rory and Duncan putting themselves on the line, but the tenacity from Leyla, who never stopped fighting, saw her take the player of the match award.

There’s a corner of a foreign field

There’s a corner of a foreign field

T-Rex’s final game against the Bassets was for the second group position.  5-4 in BSN’s favour at half time, the game had been ‘tit for tat’ with both teams taking turns to run through the middle.  In the second half, BSN came out on top to win 9-4.  Much of the success came from Luc, Duncan and Rory breaking down the play and then getting the passing moving out to Aiden, the speed merchant on the wing.

Speed merchant

Aiden running clear

Scott put in a multitasking masterclass; coaching, ref-ing and timekeeping.  Although he may have mixed his roles at times, blowing the final whistle, when being the coach from the sidelines.

With Tilburg A not contesting the game between the two second placed teams, T-Rex did not play again, but there was still the final between the Tigers and Oemoemenoe.

The Tigers were well briefed on Oemoemenoe for the final, with some scouting by Daran and advice from Scott from T-Rex’s earlier game.

They started with great passing and intensity, playing the ball quickly out of the break down to get around  Oemoemenoe rather than staying narrow and playing through the middle.  From the start, Hugo brought down their biggest player.  In a match up of size versus tackling technique; technique came out on top.

Up against the big guy

Up against the big guy

Moritz was put in for the first score with a finely worked passing move out to the wing and then switched back inside by William for Moritz to find the gap.  In a man of the match performance, William followed up for the second, with a great run from the half way, beating a number of Oemoemenoe players to get to the try line.

Tackling, running and passing

William: Tackling, running and passing

Oemoemenoe were still in the game and after building pressure against the BSN defence, they found a way through into the corner.  Feeling the momentum, they had the Tigers pinned back on their try line, but BSN resisted further pressure and broke with Moritz only stopped on the wing by a last ditch tackle.  Working quickly from the breakdown, the Tigers passed wing to wing for Jamal to jink and run in for 3-1 at half time.

In the second half, the Tigers controlled the game.  Oemoemenoe scored two tries, one from their giant player at short range and the other using pressure and their weight advantage into the corner, but they were never within two scores of BSN who won out 5-3.  The last BSN try saw Moritz run in from an unselfish pass by Alexander, when he maybe could have gone himself.

The victorious

The victorious

T-Rex

  • Coach: Scott
  • Captain: Duncan
  • Player of the match: Leyla
  • Team: Aiden; Andrea; Callum; Josh; Jules; Mac; Milly; Rory
  • Cameo: Luc

Tigers

  • Coach: Daran
  • Captain: Jamie
  • Player of the match: William
  • Team: Alexander; Daniel; Henry; Hugo; Jamal; Luc; Moritz
  • Cameos: Duncan & Josh
Ooh that tickles

Ooh that tickles