Pius v Pats game was interesting, definitely a nail-biter but wouldn’t really be described as high quality except in odd patches. Pats were their own worst enemy through much of the game with some dropped ball and errors being costly. Pius were committed, playing well as a team and took their chances with those errors, especially early where several instances of Pats dropped ball meant Pius had all the ball in attack for the first five minutes and Pius scored twice to be leading 14-0.
Pats slowly worked their way into the game and the close score reflected the fact that Pats couldn’t get their game together with any consistency, and Pius just kept working away and wouldn’t lie down. Unfortunately the refereeing was also a talking point, with inconsistency being a feature but I won’t go too far on that issue – suffice to say there was a polite but lengthy conversation between the referee and the Pats coach after the game (yes the winning coach was seeking some clarifications).
The last part of the game held some vindication for Pats where Pius were awarded a penalty 40m out with less than 2 minutes to go, scores level at 26 all and the penalty kick missed. Pats took the ensuing goal line drop kick, and with Pius in possession in mid field eventually turning over the ball, Pats were able to break down field from inside their own half where a penalty was conceded by a Pius winger for an obvious knock down of a pass with Pats deep on attack which resulted in a Pius yellow card and penalty to Pats. So Alex Conti for Pats was lining up a penalty kick for goal about 10 metres in from touch with time up on the clock, and the successful kick meant a 29-26 win to Pats at the death.
Pats will feel that they have managed to get an ugly away win, although they are definitely missing those 4 injured forwards and 3 injured backs from their first choice team still sitting on the Pats bench.