Lahore too good for Delhi in Rugby Cup

Lahore Rams claimed narrow win over Delhi Lions Club in the Lahore-Delhi Rugby Cup here at the DHA Stadium on Sunday. Despite cold and inclement weather the match was watched by a jampacked audience and the clash lived up to all the billing.
The Lahore Djuice Rams, playing with their full side which included national team players Sair Riaz, Umer Usman, Manan Naseem, Fauzan Wain, Arslaan Zahid, Khuram Haroon, Shakeel Ahmed, Umer Butt, M Babar, Haji Anwaar ul Haq Zafar and Imran Rashid gained score inch by inch while the visiting team offered the maximum possible resistance to make things tough for the hosts.
The match carried all the hype and excitement of an India-Pakistan match and both the teams showed hunger to be called the Lahore-Delhi Rugby Cup Champions. Even good luck messages were streaming in on Facebook. Sarib Qazi who won the man of the tournament award in the 7s tournament on Saturday, left a message before the match. “Its Raining “Chilly” Morning -Today we play the final game of our Pakistan Tour! It all comes down to this – All eyes will be upon us – We’ve got to take it away from them, in their own home ground”.
Delhi Lions took early advantage of the territorial superiority and after the third successive penalty got an easy kick beneath the posts which Sarib Qazi from Kashmir took easily for a 3-0 lead. Devender was the most notable of the Delhi Lions players, with Pranay and Vijay doing well at key positions. Lahore Rams got some good possession in good areas but each time they kicked away good possession and could not convert possession into points. They got a penalty in the centre of the field 40 yards from the goal but FULL-back Mannan Naseem’s kicks went wide, and the Delhi Lions led 3-0 at the break.
Lahore continued to hold the possession advantage but a lot of lateral runs made sure the game was played mostly at the half line. After a couple of failed runs, Umer Usman finally had a dummy that worked and took the ball into the Delhi 22 metre line. The Lahore Rams forwards piled in and continued to batter the Delhi Lions who defended bravely.
Prashant made a number of crunching tackles. Lahore claimed a try but it was disallowed by referee Fawzi Khawaja as the ball appeared held up. Then Khurram Haroon came on as a substitute and on his very first run broke a couple of tackles and slid across the line for a try that was awarded after consultation with the touch judge. That made the score 5-3 to Lahore as Anwaar missed the conversion attempt.
Delhi Lions tried to fight back but the wet and cold conditions made the ball handling very hard, and upon gaining possession Lahore kicked it out to seal the narrow win 5-3. The crowd gave a wonderful ovation to the visiting team as they came through the tunnel. Jun Jun Bhasin, the President of the Delhi Lions Club, congratulated Lahore on their win and expressed his delight on a very successful tour. Lahore Djuice Rams are now planning to have a return visit to India in March.