Match Report
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| Date - 17th April 2004 |
Old Brentwoods 1st XV-v- Old Edwardians 1st XV |
| Essex Division 2 |
| Old Brentwoods 104 Old Edwardians 0 |
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| Old Brentwoods finished their season with a flourish and a flurry of points as they defeated Old Edwardians 104 – 0 at Ashwells Road on Saturday.
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| The home side notched up sixteen unanswered tries in a rampant display of attacking rugby on a day when the conditions favoured an expansive approach to the game.
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| Substitute winger Dunseath claimed four of the tries, with fly-half Reah getting a hat trick and Warrilow, Hannaway and Sier each bagging a brace.
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| The match got off to a slow start, remaining scoreless after ten minutes. Then Mullen picked up from the back of a scrum in the visitors’ 22, and passed to scrum-half Warrilow who powered over before converting his own try.
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| This was the cue for the floodgates to open and from the restart the ball found its way to centre Hannaway, who turned the Old Edwardians’ defence inside out with a superb individual effort for the second try, this time converted by Sier.
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| A try for Reah and a second for Hannaway followed, both unconverted, as the Old Brentwoods pack started to dominate possession at the set piece and breakdown and distribute it for the backs to score. Warrilow then finished a move in which flanker Holmes and prop Barton showed up in midfield to demonstrate their handling skills. Sier converted from in front of the posts to bring the score to 31-0.
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| Reah kept the score ticking over as he picked a line through the middle of the defence, breaking the tackle from the fullback before outpacing him to the line for Sier to again convert.
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| On the stroke of halftime, the visitors finally had a scoring opportunity as their flyhalf took advantage of some rare possession and broke through the home side’s back line. A great tackle from fullback Faiers ended the threat and from the penalty that ensued for failing to release the ball, Warrilow took a quick tap and passed to hooker Davies, the captain ever-present in support, who then passed to Faiers who ran half the length of the pitch to score. Warrilow converted for a halftime scoreline of 45-0.
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| In the second half Dunseath replaced Mole on the right wing and quickly notched up a hat trick, using his blistering pace to take full advantage of the opportunities his predecessor had not had. All three tries were converted by Warrilow, the scrum-half electing to drop-kick any conversions in front of the posts to save time.
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| A third try for Reah, followed by an impressive solo effort from Sier further extended the lead, and with the score at 78-0 with twenty minutes remaining, a century was on the cards.
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| A huge drive against the head from the Old Brentwoods pack, with Bache and Croom in the engine room, pushed the visitors backwards at a scrum and the ball squirted out of the back for Holmes to pounce on and run it in from the ten-metre line. Warrilow converted.
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| Dunseath then grabbed his fourth in the corner, and Sier’s place-kicking skills were called up, the winger slotting it superbly from the touchline.
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| Mullen then crossed the tryline, charging through from a lineout, and unselfishly passed to Saini in an attempt to get closer to the posts. The young flanker demonstrated good handling to hold onto the unexpected pass and grounded it for Warrilow to drop-kick the conversion.
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| With the score at 99-0 it was fitting that the final try would come from a move involving good interplay between forwards and backs, with centre Shouksmith drawing the last tackler to release Sier down the wing to finish after good work by the bullish prop Raymond. The conversion was missed and the final score was 104-0.
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| Although the game was very one-sided, Old Edwardians deserve much credit for never giving up and for their contribution to what was a very good-spirited encounter.
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| Unfortunately, in spite of the number of points scored, results elsewhere did not go Old Brentwoods’ way and they must be satisfied with finishing in third place in the league in what has nonetheless been a very successful season. Next week they travel to Cork on tour.
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