‘Green Machine’ steamroll T&T
Guyana in full celebration mode after beating Trinidad and Tobago 24 – 17 to retain their RAN 15s South Zone title.
Guyana in full celebration mode after beating Trinidad and Tobago 24 – 17 to retain their RAN 15s South Zone title.

24 – 17 to retain RAN South Zone 15s title

TWO tries from Avery Corbin, and one each from stalwart Richard Staglon and newcomer

Richard Staglon on his way to scoring his try for Guyana against Trinidad.

Ahmad Isaacs, as well as two conversions from Captain Ryan Gonsalves saw Guyana defeating rivals Trinidad and Tobago 24 – 17 to retain their Rugby Americas North (RAN) South Zone 15s title yesterday at the St Stanislaus College Ground.

With the win, Guyana will now travel to Mexico City for their July 1 clash with the Mexicans; their second in as many years, for RAN’s overall title. The last time the two sides met, Mexico outclassed the ‘Green Machine’ 32 – 3.

Meanwhile, despite the weather and a waterlog field, Guyana was able to claw their way from being down 5 – 0 in the early stages, after James Phillips scored for a try for the visitors, but the ‘Soca Ruggers’ would later miss their conversion.

Successive tries by Staglon and Corbin and a conversion by Gonsalves, later saw Guyana closing the half 12 – 5, much to the delight of the vociferous crowd at the venue which was hosting Rugby for the first time, after the usual battle ground at the National Park was deemed unsuitable for play.

Guyana’s Claudius Butts makes his way through the strong Trinidad defence (Delano Williams photos)

It was a see-saw battle in the second stanza, with the two countries having their fair share of possession, but it was Isaacs who would break the drought for Guyana when he paced down the wing to score his second try of the championship, having scored one against Barbados.

Gonsalves was not able to make good of the conversion, but Guyana was up 17 – 5. However the Trinidadians continued their relentless pursuit and was able to pierce Guyana’s ‘air tight’ defence to score through Karlon Alexander.

Johnson Alleyne’s conversion meant that the Trinidadians were on the verge of a comeback, as the visitors put the score 17 – 12, but still trailed.

With chants and loud cheers from the crowd, Corbin displayed the type of Rugby that placed him as one of the top players in RAN, when the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldier powered his way through the middle and staved off a bullish Trinidadian defence to score his second try of the game.

Gonsalves scored the conversion to put Guyana up 24 – 12. But it was not over as yet.

Trinidad and Tobago, with time running out, tried desperately to get back into the game, especially since a draw would’ve seen them through to face Mexico and hand them the title.

The ‘Soca Ruggers’ could’ve only mustered a try (24 – 17) as time was not on their side and had to watch Guyana celebrate another title.

Last year, Guyana had defeated Trinidad and Tobago 23-18 in the Twin Island Republic to win the title.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.