Giants rue referee’s (From Dorset Echo)

Giants rue referee’s

8:30am Friday 12th June 2009

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SOUTH DORSET GIANTS 10

EXETER CENTURIONS 22

SOUTH Dorset Giants were left cursing a handful of refereeing decisions that denied them their first win in the South West Conference.

The Giants were playing well and leading 10-0 at the Marsh but a controversial intervention from the match official saw the Exeter Centurions reply before the hosts had three tries disallowed.

Player-coach Anthony Cowburn said: “My players are of course down about this result, as am I, especially given the fact that we were the better team.

“This was a game we targeted as we felt we had a good chance of winning, and to play so well for most of the game and still lose is hard for me as a coach to take.

“We are a new team with players developing through every game they play, but to then have the added burden of explaining the rules to the ref is just inexcusable.”

The home side received the ball from the kick-off and showed some great discipline in possession, something that has been lacking in recent weeks.

The Centurions had plenty of defending to do in the first 20 minutes with strong runs from lively props Lian Berry and Chris Hurrell being supported by the impressive surges of second rows Mark Andreas and 18-year-old man of the match Tom Smethurst.

Cowburn, playing at hooker, distributed the ball from dummy half and got the forwards moving quickly. He was a constant menace to the opposition with his relentless tackling and enthusiasm, which paid off when the Giants were awarded three penalties. Scrum-half Tim Peplow though, could only convert one of the opportunities.

The hosts continued to pile on pressure and they were rewarded with two tries, which brought the score to 10-0 in their favour.

Then the tide turned as some controversial decisions from a referee taking charge of his first rugby league encounter allowed Exeter back into the game via their first try.

Giants’ captain Mark Sample rallied the troops and they hit back, as from the next bout of pressure the hosts breached the Exeter try-line again.

However, after good build-up play from Cowburn, Peplow and stand-off Adam Hoxley, Ryan Lewendon was denied the score after the referee blew up for a forward pass.

And that was the final action of the first half, which ended all square at 10 apiece.

The second period again saw the Giants come out strong with wave after wave of attack. Adam Poole put on another fantastic display of hard running and strong defence but the final pass just went astray.

The Giants though, were again disallowed two tries with the opposition equally bemused as to why they were not given.

To make matters worse for South Dorset, the visitors ran in three tries, somewhat against the run of play, to steal victory.

Cowburn added: “I am sure we will start finding better results from now on and I must give special mention to newcomer James Champion who played his first ever game of rugby.

“James was terrific. He is a natural sportsman with a great passion for the game, and we are still looking for new players and supporters like James.”

The Giants visit Somerset Vikings tomorrow. Anyone interested in finding out more about the Giants can go to southdorsetgiants.co.uk

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