On Sunday Dorcol and Red Star Belgrade played in the Serbian Rugby League Grand Final. In one of the most competitive grand finals in history of Serbian Rugby League Dorcol won 30:22 after the two were locked 16-all at the break. More than 500 fans enjoyed the excellent match at FC Dorcol football stadium in Old Belgrade near the Danube river.
Red Star, which has threatened recently to break mighty Dorcol’s stranglehold on Serbian rugby league, took the early lead in the 3rd minute with a fantastic break of former Lazar fullback, Milos Zogovic who scored and converted. The experienced Dorcol team returned serve three minutes later through a Radovan Tajsic try and Dalibor Vukanovic conversion.
Vukanovic, the Serbian national team captain, then offloaded to Serbian Under-18 national team player Uros Radulovic for a 12-6 lead. Two tries by the ambitious Red Star handed them a 16-12 lead before Nemanja Djordjevic squared things up at the break.
The Spiders took a grim advantage in the second period, with Vukanovic using every ounce of his experience and leadership to carve out a 30-16 lead. Red Star proceeded to lay siege to Dorcol’s red zone, but one 75th minute try was all they had to show for their pressure, meaning Dorcol tie St George’s record of 11 consecutive premierships set in the fifties and sixties.
Predrag Pantic, president of the Serbian Rugby League Federation: “This is a great moment for our game. After years of good work and development we finally got two highly competitive teams. Serbian Rugby League won today. We all hope that the other eight teams will close the gap between them and Dorcol and Red Star and that we will have a very good competition next year. This isn’t the end of the season for Serbian Rugby League, today the U18 Championship kicks off and we also have some other regional competitions in our plan.”