The USA South Panthers took a 51-33 victory over the Cayman Islands in George Town on Saturday. Six tries for the Panthers and 21 points from the boot of captain Lucas Baistrocchi were enough to beat out the four tries scored by their hosts including 18 points from flyhalf Morgan Hayward.
It was a difficult first half for the inexperienced Cayman side, as the Panthers ran up a 27-6 lead. Two tries from fullback Darrin Oliver and a single via center Richard Shore went unanswered but for two Hayward penalty kicks. Baistrocchi matched Hayward’s effort and landed all three conversions.
A much better second half saw the Caymans scoring all four of their tries with Dylan Bostock, Shane Westin, and Paul Westin all touching down along with Hayward. The Panthers replied with tries to Reid Watkins, Matt Fontana, and David Caswell. Dangerous tackles from Michael Martinez and Calvin Storey left the USA South shorthanded for a significant portion of the half.
The Caymans were using the match as a tune-up ahead of their first ever appearance at the Americas Pacific Challenge. They will depart for Colombia to play their hosts on August 25, followed by games against Paraguay and finally Mexico.
Video of the match can be seen here.
SCORING
CAYMAN 33
Tries – D. Bostock, M. Hayward, S. Westin, P. Westin
Cons – M. Hayward 2/4
Pens – M. Hayward 3/3
USA SOUTH 51
Tries – D. Oliver 2, R. Shore, R. Watkins, M. Fontana, D. Caswell
Cons – L. Baistrocchi 6/6
Pens – L. Baistrocchi 3/4
Yellow cards – M. Martinez, C. Storey
TEAMS
CAYMAN ISLANDS
1 Michael Crothers, 2 Shane Westin, 3 Peter de Vere (capt.), 4 Dylan Bostock, 5 Joseph Westin, 6 Hugo Tyson, 7 Cameron Bridgemann, 8 Randy Henderson, 9 Clive O’Mahony, 10 Morgan Hayward, 11 Darien Montague, 12 Cameron Galloway, 13 Ed Westin, 14 Danny Link, 15 Andy Spilsbury
Replacements: 16 Shane Aquart, 17 Ernest Bennett, 18 Duane Ebanks, 19 Rupert Stanning, 20 Paul Westin, 21 Marcus Cubillo, 22 Matt Westin, 23 Theo Edmans
USA SOUTH PANTHERS
1 John Sullivan, 2 Amro Gouda, 3 Doc Irey, 4 Billy Stewart, 5 Oliver Hire, 6 Austin Grant, 7 Cameron Tompkins, 8 Michael Young, 9 Reid Watkins, 10 Patrick Audino, 11 David Caswell, 12 Lucas Baistrocchi (capt.), 13 Richard Shore, 14 Yousef Ali, 15 Darrin Oliver
Replacements: 16 Zach Jessell, 17 Matt Fontana, 18 Ian Lehn, 19 Calvin Storey, 20 Colby Pearl, 21 Nathan Ring, 22 Irving Carcamo, 23 Michael Martinez