Match Report |
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| Date - 21st October 2000 | Old Brentwoods 1st XV -v- Upper Clapton |
| Old Brentwoods lost 16 - 3 | |
| Despite suffering their fourth defeat in five league games the
Old boy's can be proud of the way that they battled throughout the game, determination
that should reap more rewards in future games. Despite the wet conditions both teams produced some fine flowing rugby early in the game. Early pressure from the Upper Clapton pack & some minor indiscretions from the visitors brought about two early penalty opportunities the second being successful. The combined efforts of Paul Buchanan in the line out & Billy Mullen at number eight helped the Old boy's to secure good ball & push home the advantage. The support play from Peter Womersley, Steve Aim & Mick Laws helped the home team to sustain the pressure & force Clapton into making errors of their own. The resulting penalty from Doug Cutmore narrowly missed. The determination from the visitors did not let up throughout the half but the combined efforts of the home team back row was ever present & brought play back into the Old boy's half. Further penalty before half-time reinforced the upper clapton's grip on the game the score being 6-0 at the break. The start of the second-half saw the otherwise impregnable defenses of the visitors being breached. The combined efforts of Neil Hannaway & Chris Reah could not prevent an Upper Clapton try under the posts. This score seemed to galvanize the Old boy's efforts & with more success from Buchanan in the line-out combined with good scrummaging the visitors were to produced their best passage of play. Fast hands from Alastair Rigden out to Cutmore brought Jason Lee into play & his surging run drove the Old boy's forward, their efforts being rewarded with a penalty . Cutmore missed to the right of the posts again but made no mistake moments later from a similar position in midfield. Upper clapton restored order soon afterwards with a penalty of their own & as the game went on the efforts of both teams began to even themselves out. Paul Clancy replaced Charlie Raymond in the visitors pack & helped maintain the unrelenting forward pressure. Runs from James Holmes, Phil Pembroke & Pat Stroud gained ground for the Old boy's but this was scant reward for their considerable efforts. With the final whistle sounding, clapton ran out deserved victors by 16-3, a score line that doesn't tell the full story of the game but will give the old boy's much confidence for the future should they reproduce this performance against lesser opposition.
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| Old Brentwoods Scorers Tries - |
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| Players Player Award - Peter Womersley | |
| Team Prop - Steve Aim Scrum Half - Alastair Rigden Subs - Paul Clancy |
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