Match Report | |
| Date - 17th March 2001 | Old Brentwoods 1st XV -v- Thames |
| Old Brentwoods lost 13 - 14 | |
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Old Boys Lose In Last Minute Thriller A great game of rugby was played out at Ashwells Road between 2 teams with supposedly nothing to play for: Thames’ chances of promotion are over & Old Brentwoods have secured their place for next year but by the commitment displayed by both teams throughout the game, you never would have guessed!! Both teams played the game with completely different styles Thames tucking it up their jumper & Old Boys trying to play the more expansive game despite the conditions. The home team seemed to catch the visitors cold in the first half as the forwards produced one of their best displays of the season against a much bigger opposition pack. Bauer proved dominant in the lineout and the tight five had a magnificent first half. Fly-half Reeves’ distribution was spot-on & centre Reah capitalised on this with some very strong running. They piled the pressure on the visitors’ line and scored 2 well-worked tries first with a mazy run from Hannaway and secondly with the more direct running of Holmes. This was the signal for Thames pack to start applying some pressure of their own and & they pinned the Old Brentwoods back in their own 22 for the last period of the first half. The Old Boys struck first in the second half with a well-struck penalty from Reeves, as they started the half much the brighter team. But just as in the first half, the visitors’ pack then began to get a stranglehold on the game. Despite some ferocious tackling from the back row of Buchanan, Lee and Born, they made the hard yards and gradually ground their way up the pitch. The Old Boys had to live off scrappy possession in the second half & in deteriorating conditions found it hard to clear their lines. This led to Thames scoring a converted try half way through the second half. Again, Old Boys regained possession, made the yards and applied the pressure, but they just couldn’t convert it into points. Thames capitalised on this by scoring a try with just minutes left on the clock. The question was whether or not the kicker would hold his nerve and he did. Old Boys regrouped for one last foray into the opposition half and threw everything they could at Thames, but Thames dug deep and held them out. The final whistle sounded and Old Boys knew that they would have to wait until next season to avenge their 47-10 defeat against them earlier in the season. However, it bodes well for next week’s home clash with in-form Upper Clapton. |
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| Old Brentwoods Scorers
Tries - Neil Hannaway(1), James Holmes(1) | |
| Player Player Award - Paul Buchanan | |
| Team
Prop - Charlie Raymond Scrum Half - Neil Hannaway Subs - Jamie Keane, Michael Laws |
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