Match Report |
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| Date - 13th October | Old Brentwoods -v- IpswichYM |
| Old Brentwoods - 10 Ipswich YM - 13 | |
| OLD BRENTWOODS LOSE - BUT WHAT A
GAME !! |
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| Old Brentwoods lost this thrilling cup-tie
against the Ipswich team who narrowly lost to Upper Clapton in last
season's Eastern Counties Division 1 play-off. The game was taken down to
the wire, but the pattern for the day was set in the first 10 minutes when
the away team disrupted well at the set-piece & denied the Old Boys
any quality possession. Old Brentwoods defended stoically and refused to give an inch, but midway through the first half the Yellow & Reds' deservedly took the lead when they crashed through in the corner from a quickly taken penalty. Both sides struggled to get to grips with the Antipodean referee's interpretations of the law, but it was Old Brentwoods who clumsily conceded one right in front of the post shortly before half time. That took Ipswich into the break 8-0 up. Despite the 75 degree heat and continually being on the back foot, Old Brentwoods showed characteristic spirit: the tackle count was phenomenal with the back row of Gooday, White & Holmes leading the way. Old Brentwoods managed to put together their first good when having got some ball, there was some fine interplay from the forwards before backs Laws & Reah produced some incisive running. However, the Old Boys immediately took their foot off the pedal & let Ipswich in for a good (unconverted) score against the run of play. Old Brentwoods refused to bow down: they gradually began to win the battle in the scrums against a tiring Ipswich side and gradually gaps started appearing in the Ipswich defence. Reah took full advantage of these when he went mightily close to scoring but managed to spoon the ball in the air when the try-line was at his mercy. This brought us to the finale of the match - and what a finale it was. Paul Buchanan was lost to cramp after fine all-round effort and then William Mullen was brought on. He announced his arrival with a deftly floated pass out to set the backs off on another run, but it was his contribution to the scrum and ruck which were most telling. His awesome presence at lock saw the home side win quick, clean ball from the scrum and allow Cutmore to set the backs off. This set the platform for the Old Boys to win a penalty in the opposition half, which was quickly taken. Holmes, with a great line of running charged straight through the first line of defence, a couple of other tackles & a brick wall before scoring in the corner with a couple of Ipswich players still on top of him. A narrowly missed conversion saw the score 5-13 with a couple of minutes left. Billy Mullen claimed the ensuing kick-off before beating 2 men and setting up the ruck in textbook style. The Blues' forwards hit that ruck as if it was we were in the first minute of the game & the ball was spread out to the backs. The crowd were on the edge of their seats, but some good cover tackling brought an end to the promising move. The Mullen-enhanced second row then shoved them straight off their ball and scrum-half Hannaway scampered up the blind side before turning the ball inside to Holmes. In a carbon copy of the first try (just this time without the brick wall in front of him) Holmes touched down in the corner for a fine individual try. The conversion was missed & the Old Brentwoods were left to wonder about the what-ifs (again!). All-in-all, a good performance, a fair result and great advert for the game of rugby. |
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