Force Break Drought in Thriller
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Marquee man David Hill kicked the first drop goal of his Super Rugby career in the 82nd minute to give the Emirates Western Force an exhilarating 16-15 win over the Stormers at ME Bank Stadium in Perth tonight.
The win, the team’s first in 2010 and first at its new home ground, was secured several phases after the siren when the cool-as-ice Kiwi stepped into the pocket and calmly slotted from 35m out.
A brilliant defensive display by the Force kept the Cape Town side try-less, while the home side looked positive in attack throughout the night.
It wasn’t until Hill’s heroics that the win was sealed, bringing back memories of the regular tight finishes in previous years.
“I think it has been coming over the last three weeks,” Emirates Western Force Coach John Mitchell said.
“There were some really good signs tonight and when we got momentum we were able to put them under pressure as a result.
“It was great for us to finish the game off strongly. We said we had to go for longer to give ourselves a fighting chance. To be deserving you have to go to the end and we were deserving tonight.”
The visitors opened the scoring through the boot of Peter Grant after Mitch Inman was penalised for not rolling away.
A sublime reply from the Force was finished by returning backrower David Pocock, who capitalised on good build-up work from Mark Bartholomeusz, Mitch Inman and James O’Connor to score under the black dot. O’Connor’s conversion made the score 7-3 after a quarter of an hour.
Grant’s second attempt was also successful, cutting the margin to 7-6. O’Connor’s second missed penalty, after the half-time siren, ensured the score remained that way at the break.
Giant winger Sireli Naqelevuki appeared certain to score in the 45th minute, but some desperate defence from Inman caused him to knock on as he stretched to score.
O’Connor and Grant traded penalties after the break, with the Stormers’ flyhalf’s fifth successful kick giving his side a 15-13 lead.
Skipper Nathan Sharpe was named man-of-the-Match for a second consecutive week
The Emirates Western Force will now travel to New Zealand for matches against the Highlanders in Queenstown and the Blues in Auckland.
“The challenge for us now is to back this up and grab some momentum from the situation.”
BY THE CLOCK
5th min – Penalty Goal to the Stormers kicked by Peter Grant. Stormers lead 3-0.
14th min – Try to the Emirates Western Force scored by David Pocock. Converted by James O’Connor. Emirates Western Force lead 7-3.
19th min – Haig Sare replaces Scott Staniforth.
27th min – Penalty Goal kicked by Grant. Force lead 7-6.
HALF TIME: Emirates Western Force 7 Stormers 6
49thmin – Penalty Goal kicked by Grant. Stormers lead 9-7.
54th min – Penalty Goal kicked by O’Connor. Force lead 10-9.
62nd min – Penalty Goal kicked by Grant. Stormers lead 12-10.
62nd min – Richard Brown replaces Ben McCalman.
63rd min – Matt Dunning replaces Pek Cowan.
66th min – Penalty Goal kicked by O’Connor. Force lead 13-12.
67th min – Justin Turner and Nathan Charles replaces Chris O’Young and Ben Whittaker.
69th min – Penalty Goal kicked by Grant. Stormers lead 15-13.
82nd min – Drop Goal kicked by David Hill. Force lead 16-15.
FULL TIME: Emirates Western Force 16 Stormers 15
Emirates Western Force 16 (Pocock try; O’Connor 1/1 con, 2/4 pen, Hill 0/2 pen, 1/1 drop goal)
Stormers 15 (Grant 5/5 pen)
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