2nd XV - Evesham: 53-0

Written by Aaron Dudley

Tuesday, 11 March 2008

Old Leamingtonians proved deserved victors over Evesham on a windy Saturday afternoon. Cheered on by the delicate language of those dining patrons able to use their legs and lungs, OL’s were just too much for a weak Evesham side. In the first twenty minutes the powerful OL’s pack proved too much for Evesham; five tries came in response to continual pressure. One from and awesome catch and drive from a lineout finished by Nick ‘Squealer‘ Bingham, who added a second to his tally when the rolling OL‘s maul proved too much for Evesham‘s thoroughly outclassed pack; another from the quick feet of virgin hooker and second team captain Jon Carnall (occasionally to be found at full back) finding holes in a battered and bruised Evesham defence; perhaps the pick of the bunch (well I think so), a dummy and go from 15m out by the highly vocal Aaron Dudley; the fifth a fine finish by the equally vocal Liam Jones after the pack destroyed an Evesham scrum 5m out and Mr. Jones battered his way over. So far you would have thought that OL’s were capable of playing only 9 man Rugby! Not so! Fly-Half Paul Towey worked hard to create space and time for a back-line not lacking in experience in the centres. Cawail finished off a great piece of back play, where the ball surely passed through every set of hands on it’s way to the corner and over the line. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the wind made accurate place kicking difficult and Towey did well to finish with a tally of 4 out of 9. Substitutions (some forced, some otherwise) disrupted the dominance of OL’s and it wasn’t until the second half that they regained their scoring ways. Tribute must be paid to the efforts of Jones, Carnall, Bingham and Dudley in finding holes and gaps, and it was just the final pass that let them down. Reverting to the format that saw them dominate so in the first half, OL’s produced another try from a catch and drive from a close lineout, Nick Bingham completing his hat trick in the process. Dudley added another late on under the posts, when a thoroughly tired Evesham defence couldn’t hold his darting run. Two tries got lost in their somewhere, but credit must go to an excellent team performance. The pressure was relentless, the concentration and standards high and when it mattered most, the execution was there when it counted. A sorry day for Evesham, a good day for the Blue and Gold!

 

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