Jordan edges Mongolia in Division IV Semi Final
Source: Asian 5 Nations.
Jordan edged Mongolia 29 – 21 in the first semi final of the HSBC A5N Division IV competition on Wednesday. The result sees Jordan earn a place in the final on Saturday 12 June 2010 after the recent closure of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan saw Kyrgyzstan unable to travel for the tournament.
Although earning a walkover, Uzbekistan beat an Almaty Select XV
46-0 in their opening match. The Division IV tournament was
originally scheduled to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan but recent
unrest forced the movement of the division to neighbouring
Kazakhstan.
In the first semi final between Mongolia (last year’s 3rd placed
finishers in the Uzbekistan regional tournament) take on the 3rd
seeds in Division IV Jordan in a game that was played in perfect
conditions in Almaty.It was a classic game of two halves although
one marred by five yellow cards, three to the Mongolians in the
first half alone. The man advantage helped Jordan jump out to a 19-7
lead through four first half penalties to flyhalf Jammal Masri who
finished with 19 points on the day (5P, 2C).
Solid kicking from Masri saw Jordan jump out to a 9-nil lead by the
20th minute before Mongolian No. 8 Enkubat Dasu-ocnik put Mongolia
on the board with a try that was converted by fellow back-rower
Zolbayar Batchuluun to bring the score to 9-7 Jordan.
Jordan struck back moments later with another penalty to Masri
followed by a try to centre Firas Mughrabi, which was also converted
by Masri to bring the halftime score to 19-7.
In the definition of a game of two halves, the second stanza would
see Jordan pick up two yellow cards within minutes giving Mongolia a
two-man advantage for nine minutes. The Mongolians took maximum
benefit from their superior numbers, posting 14 more points on the
board and taking their first lead of the match in the 62nd minute.
Mongolia opened the scoring with a second try from Dasu-ocnik that
was again converted by Batchuluun to bring Mongolia to 14-19.
Moments later Kuuchit Nergul crossed over to level the scores.
Batchuluun’s conversion gave Mongolia their first lead but it would
prove to be short-lived as Masri coolly slotted his fifth penalty of
the match to re-take the lead 22-21 with 15 minutes remaining.
With both sin-binned players re-entering the match Jordan soon
re-gained control and put paid to any Mongolian dreams of a comeback
as hooker Ghaith Jalajel scored Jordan’s second try in the 78th
minute to seal a 29-21 win after Masri’s second conversion of the
day.
The other semi final was officially a walkover as the Men’s National
Team of Kyrgyzstan was unable to travel to the event due to the
closure of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan following
the recent unrest in Bishkek.
An Almaty Select XV was assembled to play Uzbekistan, the winners of
last year’s regional tournament with Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia in
Tashkent.
Uzbekistan will now face Jordan in the Division IV final on
Saturday, while Mongolia is assured of a 3rd place finish in 2010.
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