A hard-fought contest at the Lanfranchi sees Zebre Parma come up just short, as their Challenge Cup quarter-final ends 32-35 in favour of Dragons RFC. The dream of reaching the semi-finals, within touching distance at half-time, slips away. In front of an outstanding crowd, the hosts match the Welsh side for long stretches, but missed opportunities in the second half allow the visitors to pull clear. The hosts keep pushing and strike twice in the closing minutes, narrowing the gap, but it is not enough.
FIRST HALF
The scoring is opened in the 9th minute with an O’Brien penalty to give Dragons the lead (0-3). Zebre respond on 12 minutes through Da Re, who levels the score from the tee (3-3).
The visitors extend their advantage on 14 minutes with a try from Inisi, converted by O’Brien (3-10). At 23 minutes Richards is shown a yellow card and Zebre immediately capitalise on the numerical advantage: Trulla crosses on 24 minutes, with Da Re converting to make it 10-10.
Dragons regain the lead on 29 minutes through Keddie, again converted by O’Brien (10-17). A second yellow card follows for the visitors on 32 minutes, this time to Inisi.
Zebre draw level before the break: on 36 minutes Bertaccini scores under the posts and Da Re adds the extras for 17-17.
Half-time: Zebre Parma 17 – Dragons RFC 17
SECOND HALF
Dragons move back in front on 43 minutes with an O’Brien penalty (17-20).
On 51 minutes the visitors extend their lead with Keddie’s second try, converted by O’Brien (17-27). Zebre respond on 62 minutes with a long-range penalty from Da Re (20-27), but Dragons strike again on 64 minutes through Dee, with the conversion missed (20-32).
O’Brien adds another penalty on 75 minutes to stretch the lead to 20-35.
Zebre respond late: Krumov scores on 77 minutes (25-35), but the conversion is missed. In added time Quattrini crosses for the fourth home try, with Da Re converting for the final score of 32-35.
++ MATCH SUMMARY ++
ZEBRE PARMA vs DRAGONS RFC 32 – 35
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, kick-off 21:00
Scorers:
9’ pen. O’Brien (0-3)
12’ pen. Da Re (3-3)
14’ try Inisi, con. O’Brien (3-10)
24’ try Trulla, con. Da Re (10-10)
29’ try Keddie, con. O’Brien (10-17)
36’ try Bertaccini, con. Da Re (17-17)
43’ pen. O’Brien (17-20)
51’ try Keddie, con. O’Brien (17-27)
62’ pen. Da Re (20-27)
64’ try Dee (20-32)
76’ pen. O’Brien (20-35)
77’ try Krumov (25-35)
80’ try Quattrini, con. Da Re (32-35)
Kickers:
Da Re (Zebre Parma) 4/5
O’Brien (Dragons RFC) 5/6
Cards:
23’ Richards (yellow)
32’ Inisi (yellow)
---
ZEBRE PARMA
15 Montemauri
14 Belloni
13 Bertaccini
12 Zanon (70’ Mazza)
11 Trulla
10 Da Re
9 Garcia (50’ Fusco)
8 Odiase (57’ Licata)
7 Stavile (70’ Ferrari)
6 Ortombina
5 Krumov (C)
4 Canali (57’ Locatelli)
3 Neculai (37’ Pitinari)
2 Di Bartolomeo (73’ Quattrini)
1 Hasa (70’ Franceschetto)
Replacements:
16 Quattrini
17 Franceschetto
18 Pitinari
19 Ferrari
20 Licata
21 Fusco
22 Mazza
23 Locatelli
Head Coach: Massimo Brunello
DRAGONS RFC
15 O’Brien
14 Richards (73’ Anderson)
13 Inisi
12 Owen (27’ Paea)
11 Dyer
10 de Beer
9 Armstrong (73’ Lloyd)
8 Wainwright
7 Young
6 Keddie (70’ Lewis-Hughes)
5 Carter (C)
4 Woodman (59’ Davies)
3 Coleman (76’ James)
2 Coghlan (49’ Dee)
1 Martinez (49’ Jones)
Replacements:
16 Dee
17 Jones
18 James
19 Davies
20 Lewis-Hughes
21 Lloyd
22 Paea
23 Anderson
Head Coach: Filo Tiatia
---
Referee: Luke Pearce (Eng)
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jonathan Healy (Eng)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Player of the Match: Keddie (Dragons RFC)
Attendance: 2,524