The Kaiviti Silktails were made to work hard, but they did enough to scrape a 22-20 win over a determined Mounties rugby league side in their round 13 match during the Ron Massey Cup competition at Prince Charles Park in Nadi last Saturday.
The Silktails started strong with a wonderful team effort try by Manoa Vilikesa, 10 minutes into the game.
However, the Mounties determined to put a brake on the Silktails free-flowing rugby, ploughed through the Silktails right in the middle, and their persistent attempts were rewarded with two tries scored through Matt Craparotta and Roman Ioelu as they led the Silktails 10-6 at half-time.
The Lautoka-based side looked rattled from the Mounties assault as a knock-on from a Silktails player, minutes into the second half was capitalised by Matt Craparotta who got his brace and, in the process, extended the Mounties lead to 10 points.
The Silktails staged a comeback with Rusiate Baleitamavua’s try narrowing the points margin.
Mounties determined to make it to the top five in the ladder board, were unfazed by the away game disadvantage, with Ioelu’s brace putting Mounties ahead by 20-12.
With only 12 minutes left on the clock, the Silktails scored two tries through Tomasi Seru and Meli Nasau to turn the tables around and win the match by 22-20.
The Silktails’ resilience in defence was the most potent weapon in their armoury as they withstood a strong attack from a Mounties pack with seconds left on the clock.
Silktails head coach Wes Naiqama said the resilience of the boys got them the victory.
“Really proud of what the boys managed to do today as we came back from behind to get this win,” he said.
“Our patience and resilience really showed today, although it wasn’t pretty, the boys worked hard for each other.”
The former Fiji Bati captain highlighted despite a few injuries to the squad and also losing key players in the first half, the boys staged a strong comeback.
“The Mounties are a very good team and we had prepared for it as such.”
Mounties head coach Luke Branighan said they weren’t good enough to put the Silktails away despite a lot of Silktails players busted.
“This is a credit to their squad and the culture that they have built around and their coaching staff no doubt would be very proud,” he said.
