EUROPEAN SHIELD WEST GAME 1

It was the Dalibor Vukanović show in Prague as the Serbian scrum half masterminded a resounding win over Czech Republic, thanks to a second half super show. The visitors dominated the competition opener from all but the seventh minute, when Czech centre Marcel Mana found the try line down the left for an unconverted score, but it was less than two plays later that Vukanović instigated a man of the match performance with his first of four tries. The Serbian skipper converted his effort and that of another nine touchdowns for a personal haul of 32 points.

The first half was a tough struggle for both teams, each their own worst enemies with errors in possession but Serbian coach Marko Janković obviously got his message across at the interval. His charges held a 12 point lead at the break and Vukanović’s try next to the posts in the opening minutes of the second period set the tone for the remainder of the clash.

Ex-Whitehaven prop Soni Radovanović led from the front in a typically physical defensive display but on three occasions spilt the ball in promising positions, once over the try line. The other highlight for the Serbians, whose bench players made a big impact, was when Dorćol Spiders prop Danilo Delić broke the Czech line eight minutes from time and powered clear from 50 metres to crown an encouraging win.

Full back Dimitris Dajč, Dejan Lukenić, Zoran Pešić, Stefan Nikolić and stand off Milan Šušnjara were their other try scorers.

Match Two in the West sees Serbia host Germany in Belgrade on July 3^rd. In the Czech Sate of Origin curtain raiser, Moravia just held out a strong finishing Bohemia 26-24 in a thriller.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Petr Okleštek, Kristián Ernst, Marcel Mana, Jan Buben, Martin ÄŒernohorský, Jarda Stribro (c), Pavel Navrátil, SvaÅ¥a Vláčil, David Dolak, Michal Hora, Pavel Zemánek, Tomas Kurka, Vladimir Blazek. Subs: Tomáš Chadim, Martin Giel, Ivo Dostál, Stanislav Kvadil

SERBIA 
Dimtris Dajč, Marko Katanić, Aleksandar Sič, Nenad Grbić, Vladan Kikanović, Milan Šušnjara, Dalibor Vukanović (c), Dejan Lukenić, Nikša Unković, Danilo Delić, Ivan Djordjević, Vuk Tvrdišić, Soni Radovanović. Subs: Milan Štrbac, Nikola Kovačević, Stefan Nikolić, Zoran Pešić