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Serbia overpowers German comeback to win European Shield West

Saturday 3rd July 2010

EUROPEAN SHIELD - WEST, Match Two
SERBIA 40 GERMANY 14 - Radnicki FC Stadium, Belgrade

Serbia overcame a second half comeback by a spirited German outfit to win the West section of the 2010 European Shield this evening at FC Radnicki Stadium in Belgrade.

The Serbians opened the scoring when hooker Zoran Pešić crossed for his first in a brace of four pointers. Dalibor Vukanović converted as he commenced a 26-point haul, after collecting 32 points last week against the Czech Republic in Prague.

The ensuing ill discipline of the Serbians gave Germany some fine field position and Max Schoengen found just enough space to beat Kikanović and dive over for a try only four minutes later which silenced the home crowd and asked early questions of the Serbians.

A Dalibor Vukanović double and Zoran Pešić’s try just before the break saw Serbia take a 24-4 half time lead but the Germans had other intentions.

The Germans opened the second half with some bright ingenuity when Damien Seibold kicked on the first from a scrum at halfway and Jimmy Keinhorst pounced on the ball to send alarm bells ringing for the Serbians as Kristian Keinhorst converted.

Nick Keinhorst put each of the three Keinhorst brothers on the score sheet in bringing the margin to only 10 points when he dived on a Seibold grubber kick next to the posts in the 52^nd minute.

The Germans had their hard running six-foot-six 19-year-old prop Thomas Isaak leading the way for the German youth but it was Stefan Nikolić putting the match beyond doubt with a 50 metre run down the right touchline and it was fitting, in the end, that Dalibor Vukanović would score his third try of the game in another man of the match performance.

Dalibor Vukanović ran straight through a tiring defence to notch up his hat trick and stamp his name on Serbia’s European Shield West victory.

German coach Danny Stocks was happy with his team’s performance despite the rather inexperienced squad he was able to prepare.

Stocks commented, “Everyone gave 100% and I hope we can build on this performance when we play the Czech Republic in two weeks”

His opposite number, Serbia coach Marko Janković, was satisfied his combatants completed a successful European Shield campaign after the German second half scare.

Janković told reporters, “The Germans were very upset at the interval and they decided to go all or nothing in the second period and their two tries really shocked us”

“They put two scores, then in the middle of the second half we finally broke their defence and our physical preparation following the completion of our domestic championship showed in the end”

With the final score not a fair reflection on the game that took place, Germany will be keen to steal second place in its group when they host the Czech Republic in Kaiserslautern on July 17.

Serbia 40 (Dalibor Vukanović 3, Zoran Pešić 2, Stefan Nikolić, Nenad Grbić tries, Dalibor Vukanović 6 from 7 goals) defeated
Germany 14 (Nick Keinhorst, Jimmy Keinhorst, Max Schoengen try, Kristian Keinhorst 1 from 3 goal)
At Radnicki FC Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia
Ref: Brian Armstrong (Eng)
H-T: Srb 24-4
F-T: Srb 40-14
Man of the Match – Dalibor Vukanovic (Srb)       Jimmy Keinhorst (Ger)

Serbia (1 to 17)
Nenad Grbić
Marko Katanić
Aleksandar Sič
Niksa Unkovic
Vladan Kikanović
Milan Šušnjara
Dalibor Vukanović
Dejan Lukenić
Zoran Pešić
Ivan Djordjević
Vuk Tvrdišić
Milos Calic
Soni Radovanović
Milan Štrbac
Danilo Delić
Lazar Zivkovic
Stefan Nikolić
Coach: Marko Janković

Germany (1 to 17)
Nick Keinhorst
Max Schoengen
Nico Koch
Jimmy Keinhorst
Christoph Huber
Damien Seibold
Kristian Keinhorst
Thomas Isaak
Danny Stocks
Fabrice Fehlman
Christian Gabriel
Bene Rehm
Simon Cooper
Arthur Schein
Ben Behr-Heyer
Max Froeschner
Liam Doughton
Coach: Danny Stocks