Bedok Kings Outplayed by Bucks

Bucks condemned Bedok Kings to an agonising defeat during last evening’s top-of-table clash, in a game billed by many supporters as a battle between two sides of immense rivalry over the recent years.

The Bucks were a vastly more competitive side to the one found wanting during their first round clash a month ago and they benefited as Bedok struggled to find the kind of form that had brought them that emphatic victory. The Kings were strangled out of the game by a dominant Bucks tight five, who marched over their opposites at scrum time and edged the battle of the lineouts, overpowering Bedok up front to post an resounding 37-19 win.

The Bedok front-row endured a punishing afternoon at the hands of the Bucks’ impressive scrummagers, marshaled by an inspiring Ben Wheeler at No.8, who was workmanlike in this victory over his rivals.

In blustery conditions, the early exchanges were all square as both teams fought to gain field position through territorial kicking, with NTU’s Daniel Thiam at flyhalf for Bedok; and Todd Feather as his opposite number for Bucks.

Both sides showed signs of slight rustiness with mistakes galore being made in the disjointed opening exchanges. The scrappy action continued with neither side looking capable of creating potent handling moves, with the Bucks outside backs most wasteful on numerous occasions. The Kings defended valiantly and thwarted the Bucks in attack.

It was Bedok who drew first blood with a well-worked try to take the lead just after the opening quarter of an hour. But shockingly for the supporters, the Kings would suffer an alarming fade-out which turned out to be a disaster at hand for the league leaders.

Despite missing a simple penalty which would cut down the early deficit, the Bucks regained their composure and ran Bedok ragged in the first half to complete a bonus point performance, with four tries to one, going into the interval.

Bedok Kings couldn’t match the panache shown in their previous league victories and struggled to win clean lineout ball and smooth possession at the scrums. They were toothless on attack, relying largely on a bruising approach to defence to keep the Bucks at bay.

Contrary, the Bucks enjoyed a good deal of possession and punished an error-ridden Bedok side. Bucks flyhalf, Todd Feather, was a standout in attack, exploiting his forwards to great advantage and spearheading his backline as they continually looked dangerous with ball in hand.

Bedok looked the hungrier outfit after the restart and they seized the initiative with a try after Thiam put speedster Flash through, off a well executed set piece move. However, this early surge proved to be their only breakthrough as any promising raids were let down by the lack of quality possession.

Bucks took advantage of some lacklustre defending to score three more tries and extend the lead. It was clearly not Bedok’s day, as even the referee’s decisions favoured the opposition when a seemingly held up ball at the line was ruled off for a try.

The Kings fought all the way to the end and managed to put in a late try but the resurgence was too little and too late as Bucks ran out deserved winners. The NTU SELECTORS were encouraged, though, as both Thiam and Qing had a hand in the late phases of play which led to the try.

“Our scrum was outmatched and we were dominated at the lineouts; but most disappointing of all, was the fact that we did little to retify these problems there and then. Our backline was starved of quality ball and we therefore played off scraps for most of the game. In general, we failed to find any real rhythm. We struggled to maintain field position and had very little possession in our opposition half, which is where it counts,” a disgruntled Thiam claimed.

“Rugby games are still won and lost in the forwards and Bedok was comprehensively outplayed there yesterday. The front row was heavily disrupted and they didn’t have the possession to unleash their backline which had been so convincing in the wins over Wanderers and SCC,” stated a saddened Bedok supporter.

“In saying all that your game plan is only as good as the opposition allows, and on that note credit needs to be given to the Bucks. They hindered our game plan and executed their own effectively against us,” said Bedok head coach Tauroa.

NTU prop, Rebel Rong was deferential in defeat, “In all, it was a poor performance from us and one we will be quick to learn and move on from. The players take full responsibility for this performance and we will always hold ourselves accountable for both our good and bad displays.”

“For f**k sake, get out of my face,” said Bedok boss, Tony King, who refused to comment on the game when asked by one of our correspondents.

“In this game, we were beaten by opponents who were generally quicker in thought and deed. We created a number of opportunities in that second half, you only get limited opportunities against quality opposition and you’ve got to take them,” said NTU probable, Rongy.

“I guess it’s back to the drawing board. We can only get improve on that performance and we’ll dig deep to work on it as well,” said incoming NTU prop, Mark Lee.

When asked about the alarming number of turnovers, Tauroa responded, “When you are playing catch up rugby at this level, turnovers are imminent as you try and push hard to create something. I’m disappointed that we failed to get our game plan going but we’ll work something out on Monday.”