Cayman rugby defeats Pennsylvania in under-19 game

Cayman Rugby Club hosted a team from Pennsylvania on Saturday, 21 April, in a showcase under-19 match between Cayman and Montgomery Bucks Under.

This was the first full game of the season for Cayman and was useful in preparing for the upcoming U19 Caribbean Championships in Jamaica in July 2023, which will be the first touring side for the U19s since COVID.

Cayman got off to a superb start with a charging run by Timothy Maldonado-Ebanks. Taking the ball deep in his own half, he went through Bucks defenders like a bowling ball knocking down skittles.

He had the presence of mind to offload to scrum half Clancy Hannon who ran a superb support line to finish the move by sprinting clear of defenders from 35 metres out.

This was just the wakeup call that Montgomery needed and they responded with a clean blind-side break from Ryan Van Dame. A couple of phases later they were over the whitewash and the score was tied at 5-5. Montgomery wasn’t finished, though, as they quickly followed with another score by Van Dame, again picking from the base of the scrum and going over from 10m out to lead 12-5.

Cayman Captain Alex Fox, a sprinter in a props body, was omnipresent, leading his team’s comeback and dragging defenders over the gain line on each barrelling charge.
Cayman came back into it with a well-taken try. Maldonado-Ebanks picked up from the base of a retreating scrum to scurry down the blind side before neatly offloading to Lenny Ebanks, Cayman’s flying winger, to score the try.

Cayman then took the lead when fly-half Zach Jackson superbly ghosted through a gap in the Bucks defensive line to score under the posts. Cayman were up 17-12 at halftime but the growing crowd felt the game could go either way.

As it turned out, the heat, travel and the physical dominance of Cayman’s U19s proved too much for the Bucks and the second half showed the home team’s advantage through territory and possession. Prop Liam Keogh became increasingly influential in the loose and, with Jonny Robson securing good lineout ball, Cayman reduced their handling mistakes.

Montgomery made a valiant effort but after a strong run from Fox followed by another from Shem Scott, Zach Jackson got his brace and scored from a couple of metres out.

Cayman had a flowing move, finished by Lenny Ebanks, chalked off for having too many players on the pitch, but a Clancy Hannon penalty secured the win at 25-12 as the sun lengthened the shadows across the pitch.