The game the ebbed and flowed for a bit as changes were made on both sides. Then Luke Cobb, another player with a point to prove following the first team cull, scored a lovely solo try. The gigantic lock collected the ball outside the Trinity Guild 22 and built up speed, daring the Trinity Guild players to tackle him. They tried and they failed. Twinkle toes then side stepped the full back before lumbering over majestically and touching down under the posts. Jack Jones converted. Then came Trinity Guilds try. With skipper Aaron Dudley off the pitch following the delicate attention of several Trinity Guild players, Old Leams were forced into a reshuffle that left them exposed over sustained pressure. Space was found out wide and exploited. Try scored and converted. Final score 34-10 (not 47-10 as the referee initially thought, though there were no shortage of volunteers in the bar to take credit for the extra 13 points). The Barcode Man of the Match award this week is doubled up as no one earned the right for the DoD award. Andy Mould, returning from injury, dictated play well from 10 and shares the award with Dean Harris who also picked up the referee’s award for “Most annoying player on the pitch”, though Ben Forrer came in a close second. Positive images from today’s game include the Old Leamingtonian pack on its feet and raring to go with Trinity Guild forwards scattered around the pitch huffing and puffing. This was the clinical performance we wanted before next week’s game. It was by no means perfect; work must be done on the back of the scrum and our concentration let us down in the last twenty when we started to tackle the big runners high instead of low. These are things that will not happen next week. No chance. We have the momentum. We have scored 458 points and 74 tries in 11 games. In the last five games, we have conceded only 22 points and in total only 179. In previous seasons the challenge of Broadstreet would have perhaps been met with apprehension. Not so this time. We cannot wait.......
OLs started strongly and went over for an early score through stand off Chris Joyner. Positive play led to several more chances but these were missed through the final pass going astray. OLs finally made the pressure tell as winger Cawail Wong went over in the corner following a pick up and lateral run by No 8 Greg Williams. Half-time 10 -0 The second half saw the Guild up their game and exert plenty of pressure of their own on the OLs line but this was repelled as OLs swiftly took play to the other end of the field and scored a classic three quarter try through full back Graham Thomas. Trinity Guild did notch up a single score reply but more great defence enabled OLs to clear their lines, move the ball quickly between Greg Williams, Keir Edmonds, Andy Lee and scrumhalf Lester Hunt for Lee to score from 25 metres (Reminiscent of the old days 25-30 years ago)
15 players travelled to Newbold. The game started with the colts playing the majority of the first half in the opposition’s territory with colts playing assertive, attacking rugby with the forwards winning much of the ball following strong leadership by Jake Copper, the pack leader. Due to lack of numbers many players were asked to play in unfamiliar positions such as Tom Smith playing prop and Steve Pahal as hooker. The backs had an unfamiliar line-up which performed well but lacked the cutting edge of a more settled back line, however each player gave their all. Newbold scored a breakaway try taking a 5-0 lead at the 20 minute mark in the first half and this score remained the same at the end of the first half. The Colts reshuffled their limited line up and to bring players into the game. Newbold took advantage of playing down hill in the second half and applied constant pressure. An unfortunate error gave Newbold a simple try and conversion increasing the lead to 12-0. Colts continued to play with great passion and commitment, the defence playing well with man of the match Mike Tattersfield having an excellent game as fullback. During the second half Colts unfortunately lost two excellent players due to injury, Jack Quinlan and Eddie Prudoe reducing the Colts players to 13. Newbold took advantage of this and scored a further try making the final score 17-0. Full credit should be given to the 13 remaining players who took the game to Newbold and made a number of attempts to score a try while camped on Newbold’s try line. This pressure resulted in a Newbold player being sin binned and a few fists being thrown. Unbelievably Newbold had a 16th player cautioned for unlawfully joining the field of play and thwarting a score trying attempt by Jason Hobman. Although the game was lost all players gave maximum effort; with sufficient players and fewer injuries then the score would have been different. Well done
The OL’s with a much changed team from last week slowly worked their way back into the game and with a kick down field, Paul Salvin crossed the line to bring the score to 7-5. Adam Canning converted. OL’s then gave away a number of penalties and Dunlop converted one of these for an additional 3 points. Adam Canning responded with a well taken drop goal after approximately half an hour. Dunlop increased the pressure on OL’s and the result was a further 2 tries one of which was converted before half time. Half time score 27-10. Mark Foley was replaced at the beginning of the second half with Luke Staton moving to scrum half to try and counter the very aggressive Dunlop number 9. However although there was quicker ball from the scrum the half was littered with mistakes and missed tackles. The lineout which had operated effectively in previous weeks came under strain and the ball kept on being lost in this area. Dunlop ran away in the second half scoring a further 8 tries and 6 conversions, giving the OL’s their heaviest defeat of the season. Hopefully next week OL’s can rediscover their winning ways against Kings Norton at home.
