Top 14: Biarritz end
travel woes to inflict Further pain on Mont-de-Marsan
24
October 2008
Mont-de-Marsan (6) 6 Biarritz (10) 33
Biarritz finally ended their away-day hoodoo
as they trounced bottom club Mont-de-Marsan at the Stade Guy
Boniface on Friday night to record their first win on their
travels for eight months.
The Basque club struggled initially to exert
their dominance in an error-strewn first half, leading 10-6
at the interval with returning scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili
missing a trio of kickable of penalties. But they turned on
the power in the second-half, adding 23 unanswered points as
the hosts wilted in the evening drizzle.
Their misery was further compounded when
replacement hooker Trevor Leota was sent-off for a high
tackle just eight minutes after coming on, and there were
subsequent yellow cards for Patrick Blanco (Mont-de-Marsan)
and the returning Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz) after a
bagarre generale (all-in brawl) as tempers flared four
minutes from time.
Les Montois started positively enough with
fly-half Benat Arrayet landing a long range drop-goal after
six minutes, but the fact they only added a further three
points in the ensuing 74 minutes spoke volumes of their
current problems.
Their game was littered with sloppy handling
errors and mindless mistakes all night as they contributed
massively to their own problems.
Not that Biarritz were complaining after a
run of 12 successive away defeats, and the win will do
wonders for the confidence of a club still struggling to
find its best form this season.
Yachvili, clearly enjoying his return to
action after a lengthy lay-off, was at the hub of everything
Biarritz did and his presence alone clearly buoyed the
visitors, who could also call on returning internationals
Harinordoquy and Nicolas Busque.
Yachvili it was who
levelled the scores with his seventh-minute penalty, and the
diminutive livewire was also instrumental in the opening try
when his cross-field kick found flying American winger
Takudzwa Ngwenya wide on the right. The Zimbabwe-born
speedster completed a neat pick up and step to round-off the
score – his sixth of the season – with Yachvili adding the
conversion.
Arrayet reduced the advantage with a 14th-minute
penalty but the score remained 6-10 until half-time as
Biarritz failed to capitalise on their greater possession,
with Yachvili particularly culpable as he missed a hat-trick
of kicks.
A half-time breather no doubt allowed some
home truths to be aired by the team coaches but it was
Biarritz who emerged the more positive, extending the lead
to 6-16 within 10 minutes as Yachvili as last found his
form. He added another three points on the hour as Les
Montois were penalized yet again – this time for offside –
before setting up the second try when his up-and-under was
picked up by fly-half Julien Peyrelongue before being
off-loaded inside for Damien Traille to score.
Five minutes later Mont were down to 14 men
after Leota’s extremely late high tackle on Busque, with
Biarritz using their numerical advantage to earn a penalty
try shortly after as the referee tired of the home side’s
continuous spoiling tactics.
Peyrelongue added the conversion to complete
the scoring, leaving Mont staring into the relegation abyss
with just one win and five tries from their eight games to
date. Biarritz, meanwhile, climbed from seventh to third –
temporarily at least until the remainder of this weekend’s
matches on Saturday afternoon.
|
|
Mont-de-Marsan |
Biarritz |
|
Tries |
|
Ngwenya, Traille, Penalty try |
|
Conversions |
|
Yachvili (2), Peyrelongue |
|
Penalties |
Arrayet |
Yachvili (4) |
|
Drop-goals |
Arrayet |
|
|
