Al-Jiboori’s Hat Trick Lifts Denver Past Olympic Club

By February 21, 2016 Featured, News No Comments

On Treasure Island, Denver and Olympic Club squared off with both teams looking to notch their first win of the season. It was a tight endeavor with multiple lead changes, but Denver ultimately prevailed backed by a hat-trick of tries from Michael Al-Jiboori.

From the get go, it was clear that this game was going to be a tight one as both team struggled to find the advantage. The defense of lines were flying up during phase play with neither team able to consistently break the gainline. In the tenth minute, Al-Jiboori made his first long break for a try off of a Denver set piece. Dicing his way through multiple O Club defenders he was able to dot the ball down underneath the posts for an easy conversion.

The rest of the first half continued like the first ten as both teams found it difficult to string together multiple phases. With 5 minutes left in the half OC was able to tie the game up after some nice forward play had won them the ball inside Denver’s 22. However, the tie would not last long as Al-Jiboori was able to find some space immediatetly following the kick-off. The kick would be missed and Denver would lead 12-7 going into the half.

15 minutes into the second Half, the Olympic club was able to take the lead following a 50 meter break by John Gallo. A Keegan Engelbrecht coversion put Olympic club in the lead with 25 minutes to play. Denver would take the lead back off of a 40 meter penalty by Maximo de Achaval. A final try by AL-Jiboori off of a well executed scrum play would give Denver a 8 point lead with 14 left. The Denver defense would hold strong over the final 15 as Olympic Club pressed to score.

Denver Barbarians

Tries: Al-Jiboori (3)

Conversions: De Achaval (2)

Penalty: De Achaval

Olympic Club

Tries: Deneys, Gallo

Conversions: Engelbrecht (2)

 

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