Things looked good, but suddenly Graz were sharp, putting huge pressure on the Celts.

Our team just lost their rhythm, and Graz took control of the game.

Despite increasing the lead through a penalty from Vicentiu Vacaru to 8-0, Graz fought back and came to a suprising halftime score of 12-8 for Celtic.

 

Emotions were up at Celtic, and the team performance was all other than expected.

 

So the 2nd half started with angry Celts, who tried to get the result on the scoreboard they originally intended. Suddenly disciplin, rucks, mauls and open play worked out much better, and point after point was marked down in favour for the Celts.

 

With a final result of 49:8 the game finished, leaving the players not too happy over their performance of the first 40 minutes.

 

But the important information came after the final whistle.   Rumors went through the team that RC Insbruck had lost the parallel game in Tyrol versus Stade Viennois (a close 23:22 decider), which sealed the place for Celtic in the Grand League Final if they only win 1 out of the last to remaining league games (Innsbruck and Linz, both played in Vienna).

 

So mark your calender for the last 3 games of this year:

    May 28th versus RC Innsbruck (at Atzgersdorf)

    June 4th versus RC Linz (at Atzgersdorf)

 

 

 

 

 

After the final whistle of the the game RC Graz vs. Vienna Celtic the Celtic Wanders had to prove that their development continues, playing the unbeaten leader of the 2nd division, RC Wombats (a joined team out of players from Wr.neustadt and Leoben).

 

Again the Wanderers fielded an young an unexperienced side, expecting a hard game as the first game of the season against the Wombats was lost 5:54.

But unexpected and surprisingly the young Wanderers started the game in style, offering a hard fight to the league leaders.  Despite falling behind 0:3 after a penalty kick it was only the Wanderers playing. Attack after attack was launched at the Wanderers leading to the first try of the game by Veteran Shane Thomson. And after a penalty kick lead was extended to a 8:3 halftime score. And it could had been even more; a try was not awarded to the Wanderers short before halftime break due to a "knock on" decision while the Wanderer player put the ball down untouched... 

 

At halftime the young team recognised that a sensation was on to happen, and the Wombats had to react if the wanted to avoid losing.

2nd half  scoring was opened through the Wombats due to a missed tackle after a line out.

 

Conversion was good, so the scoreline was 10:8 for the Wombats.  But again the young Celts fought back in style; from this moment on the action was moved exclusively to Wombats territory, leading to a try from Octavian Pilati to but the Wanderers ahead 15:10.

Again attack after attack was launched and the game seemed sealed after a brilliant try again from Octavian Pilati,....or so everybody thought.

The try was again not awarded to the Wanderers due to a "knock on" decision again, while diving into the try area...

 

So the last minutes of the game where ticking, and again the Wanderers got the chance to seal the victory. A penalty was awarded, and the kick went short, which gave the Wombats the ball back wiht last play of the game called soon after.

 

Unfortunately the Wombats managed to score at the final play of the game, and after the successful conversion won the game17:15.

 

What a heartbreaking loss to the young team!! 

 

So the day was shy 30 seconds of being a perfect Celtic Day, but all players proved that the club deserves it spot in the final, and after some hard minutes for the Wanderers the team headed on to celebrate a great day of Rugby!!!!