Riverside Rugby continued their winning streak as the team defeated OMBAC 48-7 at Reid park in Riverside. OMBAC scored their only points after pushing hard in the last 30 seconds of play, showing great heart, and eclipsing Riverside’s chances of a shut out.
OMBAC had no answer for Riverside’s powerful flanker, Quila and perennial all-star prop Kel Leung-Po. Quila and Kel provided a one-two punch that consistently broke the advantage line, and set up the backs for quick, clean ball.
Additional tries were scored by team captain and fly-half Ashley Pengelly, Number 8 “Squidy,” Hooker Van Neely, and several other Riverside players.
Side Note
Van actually “scored” twice, but the referee made the correct call in not awarding the try, as he did not see the touchdown, and the touch judge did not signal a try.
The refereeing in this game was outstanding, and both sides played good, clean rugby. The referee made loud, clear, consistent calls, and was constantly in the correct position to judge the action, often times ahead of players from both teams! So often when we watch rugby games, we only see the two teams working hard, and do not see the referee. A good ref keeps the game clean and safe for all players involved. The evil that refs do lives on, the good is oft interred with their whistles. We tend to remember “bad” or unpopular calls, but do not recognize the craft that is being a good referee. I think we should take the time to recognize a well called game when we see one.
Well called sir.