Gibraltar’s National Team played their second and final match of the 2016 tour to Asia against a physical Singapore side this evening. In slightly cooler conditions than Wednesday in Malaysia owing to a steady breeze coming straight down the field, Gibraltar went straight to work with fast-paced attacking runs from both their backs and forwards, linking up well to put Singapore under pressure in their own half. When the home side did manage to get possession, Gibraltar’s defence was Solid As The Rock leaving the hosts with little option other than to kick the ball in behind our back line.
A knock on gave Singapore a scrum inside the Gibraltar 22 which led to a couple of phases of attack but the defence held strong, earning Gibraltar a penalty on their five metre line and allowing them to clear. The lineout, secured by Ronnie Gache, gave a solid platform for the backs.
Strong runs followed from captain Teddy Sacarello and – at the start of a performance which saw Singapore nominate him their man-of-the-match – Matthew Isola pushed Gibraltar into the Singapore half before a penalty was awarded. Alexander “Chuqi” Cruz successfully slotted the kick to put Gibraltar 3 points up after 21 minutes.
Almost straight from the restart, Singapore were awarded their own penalty from 40 metres out which was successfully kicked by their number 9. 3-3.
Gibraltar put Singapore under pressure from the restart forcing them to again kick to clear their lines.
The ball went straight into Chuqi Cruz’s arms who danced past the approaching chasing winger and raced back into the Singapore half.
A number of ground-gaining phases put Luke Torres down the far side of the pitch who offloaded to Chris Gillighan who was subsequently tackled high. Jack Milton, in typical scrum-half fashion, took a quick tap and started a sniping run for the corner, only to be tackled within 10 metres by an offside player. The Singapore player was yellow carded and Chuqi Cruz successfully converted the penalty kick to put Gibraltar 6 points to 3 up. Another penalty from the restart gave Singapore a chance to equalise from 30 metres, a task their scrum-half successfully completed.
Game Day Two – Report
Friday 8th of April 2016
Gibraltar National Squad en-route to
Yio Chu Kang Stadium
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