Cobras Hold On For Hard Fought Win
Wonderful summertime weather welcomed the teams as they arrived at the Chinag Mai University rugby fields for match day 2 of the Amora Hotels & Resorts CNX Dimbulla Rugby 11s League.
The first game of the day was Lanna Rugby Club taking on old rivals CNX Cobras Rugby. It was an eagerly anticipated contest with Lanna Rugby still looking for a first win against the Cobras. After some strong recruitment into the ranks could this be the day?
As befitting a local rivalry derby, the action was non stop from the kick off. The Cobras welcomed back Pudis Sangsuwan from his recent stay playing in Australia and linking up with Captain Jack McPherson, they began to take control of the midfield. Props Ian Bernard & Opart Nasiwit were instrumental in giving the Cobras go forwards as they started to dominate the scrums & breakdowns early on. From a penalty on halfway McPherson pumped the ball deep into the Lanna 22. 2nd row JB Brown made numerious carries in the subsequent build up by the forwards which eventually opened a gap for Natipong “Parn” Kumporn to go over for the opening score which was converted by McPherson. 7-0 Cobras. The rest of the quarter was dominated by Cobras but solid defence prevented any other score before the whistle blew.
The second quarter again saw the Cobras forwards dominating possession and putting Lanna on the back foot. Cobras should have gone further ahead but a wild pass out wide from Jono Nunn saw the chance go begging. Cobras kept the pressure on, but turnover ball on the Lanna line saw them clear their lines. From the resulting line out Dave McRitchie was dump tackled by Rufus Whitbooi that should have seen the player dismissed, but the referee, being unsighted resulted in a penalty only. For all their possession the Cobras couldn’t carve out any clear-cut chances and just before the break, Whitbooi slipped out of a tackle to race away and score under the posts. The conversion was missed. From the restart Cobras worked their way down to the Lanna 22. After a couple of penalties, a quick tap saw the ball out to Cobras’ Natipong “Parn” Kumporn who weaved and dodged his way over for his 2nd try. An outstanding conversion from the touchline by McPherson saw the Cobras go in with a slender lead 14-5 at half time.
In the third quarter Lanna came back into it and began to put sustained pressure on the Cobras and should have scored but Carlos was deemed to have knocked on as he went in for the score. Cobras lost influential prop Opart Nawisit to a knee injury which put the Cobras set piece on the back foot for the rest of the game. The Cobras defence was again equal to the task, but a penalty close to their line saw Whitbooi dive over under the posts for his second score. The conversion was again missed and Cobras went in 14-10 at the break.
The final quarter was evenly balanced and though both teams fought hard to get a decisive score the defences were the dominant factor. Cobras thought they had it won, when a flat pass from Pudis to McPherson put him away in space but it was called forward. Lanna should have had the winning score, but again some indecision by Carlos on the Cobras line saw him held up. With the whistle going it was a hard-fought win for the Cobras 14-10 which put them in the top spot.
In the second match, the Chiang Mai All Stars were too strong for the youthful CMU Purple Blacks and went on to win 39-0. The CMU side is improving with every match and as the league progresses will be harder to beat. The All Stars, as defending champions know that their next encounter against Lanna is a must win match as they continue their pursuit in defending the title.
Next Up
Saturday 14th September
16:00hrs CMU Purple Blacks v Cobras Rugby
17:00hrs Chiang Mai All Stars v Lanna Rugby Club
