On Match Day 2, the Cayman National Touch Rugby Championships pitched Maples Reserves, fresh from an easy first win against work colleagues Maples, against low-flying Island Air, who were grounded on the first weekend by SteppingStones.
Maples Reserves captain Adam Huckle fired the opening salvo with a fine try inside three minutes.
Riley Mullen and Jane Hale-Smith stood out in a strong Maples Reserves performance.
Mullen has always been known for his speed but was often frustrated by running away from his support. However, he has now added a decent pass and improved decision-making to his game.
Mullen scored a length-of-the-pitch try, taking a long sweeping arc to go around the entire Island Air team. Then he played link-man through several plays before an offload to allow an easy Maples score.
Hale-Smith showed her worth twice in the space of 30 seconds, diving full length to prevent certain Island Air scores and then used her long reach to throw a looping pass over a defender to Neil Montgomery for an easy touchdown.
Her ability to keep the ball moving at speed seems nearly effortless.
Add to this deadly duo, the side-stepping Neil Montgomery, the bullet-train swerve of Dave Acutt, the languid long-striding of Jyoti Choi, the industry of Nicky Keogh and Marida Montgomery and the game turned into a touch rugby exhibition. Maples Reserves ran out convincing 13-3 winners.
In the game between two of the championship’s smaller teams, Maples faced KPMG, who started well and took advantage of some miscommunications in the Maples defense, taking an early lead through Mark Bakker and James MacFee.
Maples squandered some real try-scoring opportunities around the try-line and were down at the break but were more dynamic at the restart.
Paul “Barrel” Johnson found gaps all over the KPMG defense.
With support runners holding their opposition defenders wide, Barrel used his deceptive turn of pace to breach the gap and run in for score after score.
Bakker added one more for KPMG, but the tide had turned against them, and supported by tries from Finn O’Hegarty and Sophia Dilbert Maples ran out winners 6-3.
In the final game, Heineken Brew Crew created plenty of tricks. The team was three tries up after 10 minutes with scores from Keswick Wright, Biannca Johnson and Eddie Westin, while SteppingStones imploded with an ill-disciplined performance.
Morgan Shelver (twice), Jax McCarty and Mike McGrath were all asked by officials to leave the field for a time due to the constant querying of decisions.
It was down to Scott McCarty to restore some semblance of order before half-time with two invaluable tries, assisted by the restored Shelver. Things turned around in the second half when SteppingStones dominated.
Shelver and McCarty made up for earlier transgressions with tries, and although Wright drew Heineken level briefly at 4-4, it seemed like the game was slipping from their grasp.
SteppingStones squandered many opportunities for easy tries with errant passing, but after scores from McCarty and Shelver again, the lead this time was insurmountable. Johnson pulled one back for the Brew Crew, following fine work by Wright, but it was not enough and SteppingStones ran out 6-5 winners.
Maples Reserves sits on top with two wins and a superior points difference over nearest rivals SteppingStones.
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