Match Report
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| Date - 20th September 2003 |
Old Brentwoods 1st XV -v- Aylesford |
| RFU Junior Cup Round 1 |
| Old Brentwoods 26 Aylesford 56 |
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| Old Brentwoods faced a tough task in the first round of the RFU Juinor Vase, up against a very successful Aylesford side, currently two leagues above their hosts. On a very hot day they were up against it from the start, with their well-drilled visitors taking an early 20-0 lead. |
| However, the squad is proving to be very resilient, a trait they demonstrated with a determined display against their opponents. Rather than shutting-up shop and looking to restrict scoring opportunities, Old Brentwoods responded creditably to pull back a couple of tries. The first came after a series of quickly run penalties had brought them close to the try line. Hannaway fed Womersley who bulled his way over from 5 yards out for a finely taken try. Hannaway converted to make it 20-7. |
| Straight from the restart Old Brentwoods were again on the offensive, with strong running from Shouksmith particularly prominent. Several phases of play eventaully saw the ball find it’s way to Holmes, whose 10 yard run resulted in him ploughing over the line, dragging a couple of opposition players with him. Old Brentwoods were back in it at 20-12. |
| Aylesford now realised they had a game on their hands and were jolted into action. Another try just before half time increased their lead to 27-12. They scored again shortly after the restart to make it 34-12 and looked to be cruising to victory. To compound matters for the home side, their outside half was curiously sin-binned, leaving an already hard-working team with only 14 players. But they dug in and struck back in style. From a scrum on their own 10 metre line, the ball was fed out to Dunseath standing in at outside half. A quick show of the ball allowed him to jink between his opposite number and the covering back row and accelarate away. He sidestepped the full back before rounding the opposition winger and going over under the posts for a magnificent 70 metre score. Hannaway’s conversion was fully deserved, making it 34-19. |
| Old Brentwoods were left further depleted, with 5 players in total being forced to leave the actionprematurely, but the Old Brentwoods fighting spirit remained. Aylesford though, capitalised on their numerical advantage and despite heroic some home defence scored another two well-worked tries, before Reah returned to the field of play with the score at 46-19. |
| The next 10 minutes saw some great attacking play from the home side go unrewarded, despite the charges of Womersley and Williams. Aylesford’s magnificent defence was well rewarded though with another try, as they broke fully 80 metres to make it 51-19. |
| With 5 minutes remaining Old Brentwoods still hadn’t given up, the pack leading them back downfield through some determined running. Quick ball from a ruck was fed out to Reah who sliced his way through to score. Hannaway’s conversion made it 51-26. |
| Even in the dying minutes Old Brentwoods were keen to get another score for the large and vocal crowd. They battered their way into the Aylesford 22, eventually gaining a penalty. Unfortunately their bold decision to run at the line backfired as the ball was spilled and Aylesford ran the length of the field to add a flattering look to the final score. |
| Despite the margin of defeat, Old Brentwoods can take great comfort from the manner of their performance. Against a much bigger and more experienced side, they scored a number of well-worked tries and displayed a great team spirit which will undoubtedly help them over a long season. |
| Old Brentwoods RFC is open to all and welcome players of all abilities. Anyone intersted in playing or training can contact Chris on 07989 383479, or visit the homepage at www.obrfc.org |
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