Match Report

The Old Boys took their good recent form into this game but the combination of injuries to key players and the superior strengths of their opposition meant that Westcliffe ran out victors by 30-5 thus maintaining their 100 per-cent record for the season.

The visitors began well and runs from Charlie Raymond and Gary Barton gave the Old Boys the start that they wanted putting pressure on the Westcliffe defense. The home team did not take long to regroup & soon it was their turn to make inroads.

The loss of Paddy Bache with a leg injury unsettled the visitors & soon afterwards the Westcliffe pack exploited the uncertainty driving over for a try after winning a line out 5 yards from the Brentwood line.

Replacement Bob Knapp soon found himself in trouble going off with a hand injury after 10 minutes. This brought about a resurgence from the visitors as they attacked the Westcliffe line but a lapse of concentration brought them back up field and another try from the same source as the first gave the home team a 10-0 lead.

The successes of the past few weeks has given the Old Boys a lot of self belief and this was brought to the fore for the remainder of the half and despite the Westcliffe efforts they were unable to increase their lead before half time.

The second half began with Westcliffe increasing their strangle hold and scoring another unconverted try 5 minutes after the restart. This seemed to spur the Old Boys on and the combination of fine rucking from Paul Buchanan and Ed Gooday and the tenacity of Tom Williams brought the latter a try after 10 minutes. Alistair Rigden missed the conversion but suddenly the Old Boys were back in the game.

As the half wore on the injuries began to take their toll on the battered visitors and despite some inspirational play from Neil Hannaway and Neil Tetner to try to find gaps in the home team line it was the Westcliffe all round game that proved too good for their opponents. The last 20 minutes of the game saw the home team go over for a further 3 unconverted tries giving the final score of 30-5 a one sided look. However the score line was a slightly flattering one & the Old Boys can take much from this game knowing that a full strength side would have given them a real chance against a very impressive Westcliffe team.