Match Report | |
| Date - 13th January 2001 | Ilford Wanderers 1st XV -v- Old Brentwoods 1st XV |
| Old Brentwoods won 22 - 8 | |
| The Old Boy's produced their finest performance of the season to send Ilford reeling to an unexpected home defeat.
Starting at opposite ends of the league table the Old Boy's stamped their authority on the game from the first whistle. The impressive pack continually pushed their opponents off the ball in set & loose play. The front row of Peter Womersley, Phil Pembroke & "man of the match" Charlie Raymond continually tested the Ilford pack gaining territorial advantage from successive scrums. The visitors back division was given considerable amounts of possession & through Alistair Rigden & Doug Cutmore opted to run the ball at their opponents at every opportunity. Surging runs from James Holmes & Gareth Boyce tested the Ilford defense which stood firm. The deadlock was finally broken after sustained pressure with Cutmore slotting over a well judged penalty. The visitors maintained their dominance up til half-time but were unable to extend their lead. After the break Ilford showed their worth with some fine passages of play resulting in them leveling the score after 5 minutes. This proved to be their only dominant period of play as, with growing confidence, inspired by some great tackling from Paul Buchanan & Mick Laws among others, the visitors began to convert possession into points. The outstanding line-out work from Ed Gooday gave the old boy's backs further opportunities & some fine link play between Neil Hannaway & Alex Hughes gave the latter the space to go over for a excellent try. Minutes later it was Hughes again that went over for another unconverted try following some fine rucking by Jason Lee & Pat Stroud. Little time passed before the visitors went over again this time Ian Hannaway creating some space for Cutmore to pass the ball out to Neil Hannaway who shimmied over for a fine try, this time converted by Cutmore. Ilford showed some spirit in the closing stages & were rewarded with a try of their own. However it was all too late for a come back & with the final whistle blowing the old boy's celebrated a famous victory by 22-8. | |
| Old Brentwoods Scorers
Tries - Alex Hughes (2) Neil Hannaway (1) | |
| Player Player Award - Charlie Raymond | |
| Team
Prop - Charlie Raymond Scrum Half - Alastair Rigden Subs - Scott Inglis, Andrew Born |
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