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Melbourne Rebels 19 d Brumbies 17
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Melbourne Rebels end hell of a week with fighting win over ACT Brumbies

Roy Ward
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It would have been easy for the Melbourne Rebels to toss in the towel.

This season has been a sporting hell and now the club is in a PR war for its life, all while its season was circling the drain under injuries and horror scheduling.

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Rebels claim emotional win over Brumbies

The Rebels have put a horrid week off the field to the back of their minds, claiming a 19-17 win over the Brumbies in Melbourne.

But on Saturday night they stared down the grim reaper and rode their luck to a nailbiting 19-17 win over Australian conference leaders ACT Brumbies at AAMI Park.

Melbourne is still deciding whether it loves the Rebels but wins like this one will do their cause no end of good.

A final 10 minutes of dogged defence and a late penalty from Reece Hodge gave the home side their first win of the season, all after conceding three yellow cards and trailing for much of the second half.

The Rebels' battle with the Australian Rugby Union will go on and their season will too with the conference now wide open as the Rebels fly to South Africa for two more trying contests.

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The Brumbies will rue their inability to score more tries during the first half when they enjoyed a two-man advantage for 10 minutes.

The start was messy and unpredictable as befitting the state of the game in this country at present.

The Rebels earned a penalty just past halfway in the opening minutes and had Hodge kick for goal; his boot made the distance but went wide right.

Hodge's aim was better from close range to make it 3-0 on 10 minutes.

The Brumbies could have equalised soon after but missed their kick and it proved costly as the Rebels regained possession and, unusually this campaign, held the ball, probing the left side and then switching to the right as they passed halfway.

Winger Sefa Naivalu was clearly up the for battle, storming down the right and breaking four tackles to score the opening try.

It was brilliance when it was least expected and Hodge's conversion made it 10-0 on 14 minutes but the Rebels would find a novel way to shoot themselves in the foot.

As the Brumbies slowly moved into their attacking half, Colby Fainga'a and Lopeti Timani caught Brumbies captain Sam Carter and tipped him in a tackle. Luckily he landed arms first and avoided leading with his neck, and Fainga'a was reasonably given a yellow card.

But as both sides remonstrated after the incident, Timani foolishly kicked out at lock Rory Arnold while he was on his knees. A full-blooded strike would have caused major damage but contact was minor, allowing the referee to show Timani some mercy and give him a yellow card when red would have been justified.

With a 15-on-13 advantage, Brumbies points were sure to follow but they didn't get them easily as Marika Koroibete and other Rebels tackled furiously to slow the inevitable.

Then the Brumbies burst down their right where winger Henry Speight was able to force himself over although the conversion missed to leave it 10-5.

The Brumbies' forward pack was making ground and winning the ball. Finally that told on 33 minutes as they drew several penalties and soaked up possession before setting their scrum close to the line and forcing their way over, with No.8 Jarrad Butler scoring the try before the conversion made it 12-10.

On 36 minutes Hodge converted another kick to make it 13-12 and as the half-time horn sounded the Rebels had the ball in attack and had a chance to score but Naivalu's diving attempt at a second try was ruled out by the video referee who judged he had stepped out of bounds.

The Brumbies started the second half with purpose and forced Melbourne into another yellow card when prop Fereti Sa'aga ran into the ball while coming back from an off-side position.

This time the visitors pounced right away with a rapid move to the right where Speight was unmarked scoring in the corner although the conversion missed to leave the Brumbies 17-13 ahead.

Speight almost had his hat-trick moments later, bursting through the middle of the field from deep in his half but Koroibete managed to catch up before he got to the line.

The Rebels battled on and after regaining Sa'aga managed to gain some prolonged possession then draw another penalty which Hodge converted from just over halfway cutting the Brumbies' lead to 17-16 on the hour.

The two sides would then turn the game into a grind although a penalty at halfway on 72 minutes gave Hodge the chance to take the lead; sadly his kick went just wide of the right post.

But they weren't out of it and, surprisingly, beat out the Brumbies in a scrum with two minutes to go, forcing a penalty 35 metres from goal.

Hodge converted to give them the win 19-17.

The Rebels will fly to South Africa and face the Sharks next Sunday while the Brumbies play the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night.

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