Bermuda Defeat Princeton Tigers at the Sports Center
Conor McGlynn Scoring the First Try
IslandStats.com
Local Rugby took a back seat as the wet and windy conditions greeted Bermuda and visiting Princeton Tigers as the Bermuda National team walk off with a well-deserved 43 -0 victors over a spirited Princeton side.
Bermuda forwards began to get the upper hand with some stellar driving mauls.
A promising attack by Jamie Baum resulted in a Penalty which they knocked into the corner. Off the ensuing line-out Bermuda drove forward and Conor McGlynn touched down for the opening score, but Paul Kelly missed the out wide conversion for Bermuda to hold the 5 - 0 lead.
Bermuda settle down and went through some good phases before going to the driving maul off an attacking line out- McGlynn benefitted from the tight drive and touched down for his second of the game, Kelly was able to Convert to give the hosts a 12 - 0 lead.
With their tails up Bermuda had a fine sweeping attack down the wing which saw a grateful Dustin Archibald dive in after a nice interplay between Mikel Dill and Kia Edwards opened up a flagging Princeton defense, Kelly made the difficult Conversion as Bermuda extended the lead to 19 – 0.
Bermuda continued to get the upper hand after a fine break by Alex Brown offloaded to Dill who scampered in to score a Converted Try. Bermuda went into the half with a commanding 26 - 0 lead.
Bermuda showed great skills at the start of the second-half with a deft kick through by Kelly which was neatly picked up by Dan Cole one-handed before offloading back to Kelly for the unconverted Try for Bermuda to lead 31 - 0.
Bermuda continued to dominate and after a good counterattack by Stephen Smit the ball was quickly recycled to the burly McGlynn who scored his third Try of the day for the extended lead by another five points taking the scoreline to 36 - 0.
Bermuda continued to show their superior class with an 80m attack off a defensive scrum. Smit made a lovely inside pass to Alex Brown who then pop to the ever supporting Baum, Baum galloped in from 50 yards out for a Converted Try to make it 43 - 0.
The Princeton Tigers never gave up and fought valiantly to the end.
Bermuda National Team Coach Jamie Barnwell was philosophical about the lop-sided win stating, “The win will be confidence building and breaks the losing streak - it’s the first win for some national team players in over a year.”
The win will surely serve as a good build up for the upcoming International with Bermuda taking on Jamaica at NSC on March 9th.
