Leamington – 2nd XV: 8-28

Written by The Penguin

Saturday, 22 September 2007

On Saturday OLs 2nd XV made the short trip to play local rivals Leamington looking to continue their impressive start to the season. Unfortunately, OLs were unable to produce a front row for the game so the game was uncontested scrums from the start. With several players looking a little jaded from the Wednesday night floodlit 40s game, it appeared that Leamington may have had the upper hand. However, it was OLs who yet again made an excellent start, with the intensity expected of a local derby evident from the first hit. Some of this aggressive defensive work, particularly from Dan Biddle who excelled in a slightly unfamiliar flanker role, meant what little ball Leamington had was quickly snaffled and turned over on a number of occasions. This combined with several strong runs from Raj Bahey put Leamington on the back foot for most of the opening 40 minutes. Ultimately this pressure paid off and it was Jamie Brown who benefitted, opening the scoring with a touchdown under the posts after some good work by the OLs pack down the right flank. Mark Foley added the extras. OLs lineout was operating well and from one of these lineouts, the OLs pack marched their counterparts downfield along the right touchline. This lead to a sustained spell of pressure with numerous phases of rucked possession before Andy Hall spotted an opening (I’m told it was a dummy which opened things up!) and glided through before shipping onto Jamie Brown with the full-back approaching. Again Mark Foley added the conversation. From the restart, a good catch and run by Dave Morris saw the ball shipped on to Alex Morgan who put a probing kick up the left wing. Jack Secher, as he did all day, chased well and knocked his opposite winger back in contact, the ball was spilled and Alex Morgan who had continued the chase, gratefully scooped up the ball to run in unopposed from the 22. Conversion was kicked. Half Time score, Leamington 0 OLs 21 OLs seemed to lose some of their intensity at the start of the 2nd half; possibly believing the game was already won and were restricted to their own 22 for a period of sustained pressure. There were several rucked phases on the left touchline before the home side eventually broke over for a well deserved try. The try went unconverted but it seemed the 2nd half could be a little different from the 1st. Several handling errors and a number of interesting refereeing decisions kept OLs pinned deep inside their own half and from one such indiscretion Leamington opted to kick at the posts and reduce the deficit to 8-21. This seemed to have the desired effect on the OLs and thanks to some excellent kicking from Andy Hall they spent the next 15 mins in the Leamington half. Tempers were beginning to flare and from a penalty move, Andy Hall tapped and fed Mark Foley who bundled the ball over the try-line. Again Mark added the extras. Final score, Leamington 8 OLs 28 All-in-all another excellent performance from the 2nd XV with a number of players shining in positions possibly unfamiliar to themselves. CJ’s throwing-in deserves a mention (dare we say he should do it full time?), Dan Biddle for throwing himself around in defence virtually eliminating their fly-half from the game and Jack Secher for some big hits in defence and numerous yards gained in attack. Man of match was split between Dan Biddle and Jack Secher. We have a bye in the 2nd XV Cup first round so next week is as per the fixture list being Wellesbourne at Home.

 

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