Sub-16s Crowned B League Champions

The sub-16s romped to yet another victory to confirm their status as B League Champions and qualify for the Final Four in poll position. View images and read match report here.

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St. Julian's Sub-16   48   -   5   Beira-Mar Gaiense

Match report by Tom Rains

One final hurdle, in the form of Beira Mar, stood between St. Julian’s Sub-16 players and the title of National B league champions.  While everyone expected a victory, there was a sense of nervousness about the squad prior to kick-off.  This was in part due to the lack of information about the Beira Mar team but more to do with the weight of expectation resting on all the players’ shoulders. While the game against Lousã saw the boys play with great composure, this confrontation was a far more disjointed affair and strewn with uncharacteristic errors. However, the boys displayed enough maturity, skill and individual flair to win the game 49 points to 5, with Santiago De Oriol scoring a hat-trick in front of the whole family.

It was another fine defensive effort from the whole team, limiting the hosts to just one consolation try. Stand out moments were Daniel Smith’s 50 metre solo effort from the kick-off, a brave catch and pass from Seb Gomes whilst under pressure from the entire Beira Mar pack and a clever chip kick from Charlie Frost which was beautifully collected by Micah Mira who went on to score under the posts.

Saturday’s game saw all players who ventured south of the river get some game time, and it must be remembered that the sub-16s’ impressive unbeaten run this season has been down to the collective hard-work and spirit shown by each and every player who has played and trained since coming together at the very start of the season.

Well done boys.

Scorers: De Oriol (3), De Almeida, Smith, Rough, Pimenta, Garcia, Mirah

Conversions: Fay (1), Smith (1)

Man of the Match: Seb Gomes

Phase 2 Final Table:

The Final Four (top two teams from B league and bottom two teams from A league) to be played over the first three weekends in March.

Photos from Fernando Santos on this page.

Peter Fay's photos can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter112/sets/72157629190793439/