THE VAUXHALL Vultures proved to be too much for the Olympic Angels as they picked them apart 44-22 in the opening game of the Globe Insurance sponsored inaugural Jamaican Rugby league season Saturday night at the Olympic Gardens Cling Cling Oval.
Kemar Gray had two tries and six conversions to lead Vauxhall. He was assisted by his teammates Howard Clarke who also had two tries while, Carlyle Burger, Duannie Burton, Gavin Miller and Omar O'Sullivan had one each.
Scoring for Olympic were Crisden Grayson with two tries while, Dennis Johnson, Aldon Johnson with one each while Garfield Ballentine and Linval Livermore chipped in with a penalty conversion a piece.
The much bigger Vultures outmuscled the determined Angels as they bullied through the smaller line-up to score almost immediately, sending a message on the first drive of the game. But as would be the case for most of the first half, the determined Angels answered immediately as a diving lunge by Grayson saw them respond, and have a golden opportunity to tie the game on a penalty, but that was missed.
MAJOR BLOW
The Vultures tried to fly away with the lead but the Angels kept close with timely scoring, their chances of evening up the game received a major blow when main man Grayson was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes along with Vauxhall's Albert Muir for an on-field skirmish.
When the half time whistle was blown the Angles had fought their way to an 18-10 scoreline keeping them within striking distance of the visitors. Though it was the Angels who struck first in the second half, coming to within two points of their opponents, the second half belonged to the Vultures.
They quickly restored the lead and scored twice more, making full use of all their penalty conversion attempts to put the game beyond dispute. The tiring Angels could do little to stave off the Vulture's and their bold running advances looked to drown the home team in an angry sea of green and black. However, much to the delight of the crowd, the Angels scored a consolation try and a penalty conversion to at least end the encounter on a positive note.
In the day's other fixture the Duhaney Park Sharks outlasted the JDF to narrowly clip them 20-18 in a physical game, which saw the lead often change hands. The win ties Duhaney Park with Vauxhall at the top of the four-team group with four points each, while the JDF and Olympic Gardens have a point-a-piece.
Action will continue on Saturday when the Vauxhall Vultures face the JDF at Vauxhall High School at 3 p.m. and the Duhaney Park Sharks take on the Olympic Angels at 7:00 p.m. at the Sherwin Williams Mini Stadium.
