Dolphins beat Denver

Santa Monica 24, Denver 19

Santa Monica and the Denver Barbarians headed into their match in Southern California in desperate need of a win. Having both gone 0-2 to start the season a win would put them back on the right track while a loss would result in more questions. Denver were the first try strike after they worked their way down into the Santa Monica zone. Taking a quick tap from a Santa Monica penalty Denver pushed toward the tryline. After finding nothing readily available they swung it out to fullback Max De Achaval. He then juked around a couple of defenders and pushed his way in for the try. De Achaval would step up to hit the conversion to make it 7-0. Santa Monica weren’t going to go down easy. Dave Martini scored his sixth try of the season off another great move to even the score at 7-7. Still, Denver kept pressing throughout the half and used a strong kicking game to win possession.

Despite the pressure from the Barbarians its was the Dolphins that would take the lead into the halftime break with Sean Pypers scored and Matthieu Lesgourgues converted to make it 14-7. In the second half Martini added to his impressive try-scoring total when he collected a well placed Andy O’Connor kick and fought off his defender for the try against the run of play. That made the score 21-7. Denver did have strong play on the day and were finally rewarded for their efforts with a second try. Logan Collins finally found space to run and while being tackled made the nice offload to Soane Leger for the try. De Achaval converted to bring the score to 21-14. Replacement flyhalf Brian O’Shea hit a penalty to extend the Dolphins lead to 24-14 before Denver scored one last try via Ryan Walker to make the final score 24-19. Denver dominated possession throughout much of the match but Santa Monica were more efficient and finishing their chances. Up next for the teams Denver has the week off while Santa Monica take on Belmont shore.