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OORUFC 1stXV 20 pts vs Wath 14 pts
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For the second time this
season a player was injured in the pre-match warm-up which meant flanker
James Holland had to move into the centre berth and a last minute backword
saw Hugh Gumbs fill a vacancy at lock. ‘Ensians knew they would have their
work cut out against a side which had held unbeaten league leaders
Roundhegians to a draw the previous week and the early pressure was from
Wath. An infringement gave the visitors a penalty chance on three minutes
which narrowly missed. Five minutes later, fly half John Ratahi had to
leave the field with a leg injury which brought Tim Rushfirth off the
bench allowing centre Will Foster move to fly half.
Things began to settle for the home side with the front row of Tony Myers,
Rob Lyon and Tom Twist comfortably commanding their own ball in the scrums
and Sam Grey and James Duggan producing good line out ball. Centre James
Holland was always a threat and winger Richard Goakes had some powerful
runs up the touchline. When Wath strayed offside, Will Foster converted
the penalty to give the hosts a 3 – 0 lead on 20 minutes. Just when
‘Ensians were beginning to pressure the visitors, fly half Foster suffered
a recurrence of a hamstring problem and had to leave the field on 30
minutes. Phil Cook came into the pack allowing Gumbs to move to fly half.
Despite these changes, ‘Ensians continued to have the better of the
attacking opportunities with locks Sam Gray and Duggan putting in some
strong bursts with good support from the back row of Rob Grey, Phil Cook
and Ben Smith. From a ruck ten yards out, the ball was moved to Cook who
blasted his way over near the posts on 32 minutes with Nick Keinhorst
adding the extras to give the home side a 10 – 0 lead. Wath responded at
once with a sweeping back move which took play into the home 22 where they
attacked the line through forwards and backs. Prop Myers was yellow-carded
when deemed to be lying on the ball and suddenly Wath were applying the
pressure. After defending resolutely for four minutes, the Wath scrum half
nipped through gap to score under the posts on 39 minutes which moved the
score to 10 – 7 to the home side at the break.
The second half began with ‘Ensians camped in the Wath 22, but the
visitors showed their impressive defensive capabilities. The home forwards
battered the line for five minutes with Cook, Gray and Lyon coming close,
but there was no way through. Eventually, the ball was moved wide and a
slick pass by Gumbs saw centre James Holland slice through under the
posts. The conversion by Nick Keinhorst took the score to more comfortable
17 – 7 to the home side on 55 minutes.
Wath responded at once and used their lively threequarters to take play
into the ‘Ensians half. When two home backs got caught up in a ruck, quick
Wath ball capitalised on the defensive gaps and their backs outpaced the
cover to send the speedy winger in under the posts. The conversion meant
that the home side was now hanging on to a slender 17 – 14 lead on 63
minutes.
The visitors continued to threaten, but strong defence from scrum half Sam
Clewes, Holland, Gumbs and full back Kristian Keinhorst kept them at bay.
When play moved into the home 22, Gumbs produced some long relieving kicks
to ease the pressure and good following up on one of these by Holland and
flanker Ben Smith pinned the visitors in their own 22. Twist, Rob Grey and
Lyon then managed to turn the ball over and Kristian Keinhorst dropped the
neatest of goals to take the margin to a more comfortable 20 – 14 on 74
minutes.
For the last few minutes both sides continued to attack, but defences held
to give the home side a well-earned 20 – 14 victory. In a game marred by
injuries and the consequential positional changes, ‘Ensians can take
satsfaction for a gutsy performance against a competent and lively Wath
side.
OLD OTLIENSIANS B 34 -
HARROGATE PIRATES 38
Due to shortages in the other two teams and
injuries, ‘Ensians just managed to put fifteen players on the field
initially by using substitutes from the 1st XV match. Play got off to a
lively start with half backs Pete Tempest and Dave Smith soon getting
their backs in action. In the centre newcomer Mark Coultas showed his
skills when he put winger Liam Copping away on a strong run down the
touchline to score wide out on 3 minutes. This was followed by more quick
handling across the backs to put Steve Lofthouse over in the corner to
give the home side a 12 – 0 on 8 minutes with one conversion by Smith
Setbacks occurred soon after when two ‘Ensians players had to take up
their 1st XV bench duties on the adjacent pitch and immediately Harrogate
found they had space to get their experienced backs moving. Despite good
tackling by Lofthouse, Coultas, Smith and Graham Bentley at full back,
Harrogate put together four tries in the remainder of the half and, with
three conversions, the score was 26 – 12 in the visitors’ favour on half
time.
Due to injuries in the front row, scrums became uncontested in the second
period and former 3rd XV skipper Will Haines came on to boost the numbers
along with a loaned player from Harrogate’s bench. With the extra players
making their presence felt immediately, the home side were soon back on
the attack and fly half Dave Smith cut through for a well-deserved try.
Full back Bentley was on the end of a further move to go over and then
winger Liam Copping showed his pace to score two more tries in the corner
to produce his hat-trick. With a conversion by Smith, the lead had
switched to put ‘Ensians 29 – 26 in front on 62 minutes
The home pack battled tirelessly with Mark Copping and Derek Mott to the
fore, but the pressure began to tell and Harrogate’s lively backs moved
the ball well to score twice in five minutes. With one conversion,
Harrogate were now back in front at 38 – 29 as the final whistle
approached. ‘Ensians summoned up more energy in the final minutes and
Tempest and Coultas showed slick hands when they put Smith away for the
final try to take the score to 38 – 34 to the visitors.
Despite the disruption caused by changes, this was a fine open game with
some excellent flowing rugby from both sides. For their part, Harrogate
loaned a player to even up the numbers and both sides showed a lot of
spirit to produce a lively and enjoyable match with referee Derek Smith
ably playing his part.
Next week
sees 'Ensians visiting League leaders Roundhegians in a top-of-the-table
clash. The 2nd XV are home to Roundhegians A and the 3rd XV are also away
to 'Hegians.
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