Despite producing another fighting performance the Old Boy's were
unable to gain
their first league victory of the season, going down 10-9 to Wanstead.
The Old Boy's began the game rather tamely allowing the visitors some
early
opportunities to make inroads. However their inability to maintain
the pressure
& frequent fringing at the rucks gave Laurie Cut more the chance
to give the
home team the lead. He duly obliged & after 10 minutes they had
a rather
unexpected 6-0 lead.
The battle up front was well contested, Ed Gooday gaining considerable
success
in the line outs & Paul Buchanan along with Robbie White making
good ground from
the back row. It was however the combination of lack of commitment
at the
breakdowns & inability to recycle the ball quickly enough that
proved the Old
Boy's undoing. As the first-half progressed it was Wanstead that looked
the more
likely to score & they duly obliged with a try late on in the
half stemming from
sustained pressure from them & sloppy defending from the home
team. The score
remained 7-6 at half-time.
The second-half started brightly for the Old Boy's with backs Neil
Hanna way &
Chris Read combining well to create opportunities for those outside
them.
Constant pressure on the Wanstead back line from Neil Tetner, Mick
Laws & James
Holmes could not breach the visitors stout defences. Their industry
did however
bring about a further penalty that was duly slotted by Cutmore to
give the lead
back to the Old Boy's.
As the half progressed the visitors gradually began to gain more possession
&
this coupled with their increasing success in the loose gave them
the chance to
regain the lead. This they did from a penalty 10 minutes from the
end of the
game to give them a 10-9 lead.
The final stages of the game were played in torrential rain &
this proved to act
like a further barrier to the Old Boy's in their quest for a late
reply. A
penalty in the dying minutes of the game from near the 10 metre line
proved to
be too far for Cutmore & the game ended moments later with the
visitors claiming
the 1 point victory with some relief.
|