Sixteen tries, eleven of which were converted gave OLs an overwhelming victory against Dunlop but the game was not as one sided as the score suggests. For substantial periods of the game Dunlop occupied territory inside the OLs 22 but every attempt to break through the solid OLs defence was met with impenetrable resistance.
Photos at OL's against Dunlop

Conversely OLs fast game, feeding the three-quarters with quality ball saw try after try scored through a weak Dunlop defence. Five tries by right wing Paul Salvin and three by left wing Liam Wellings simply underlined the OLs supremacy in open play.

The match kicked off with OLs making their intentions clear in attacking the visitors and after a series of forward exchanges the ball was quickly moved out to fly half Henry Reynolds who kicked a well judged cross field ball for full back Kai Bailey to collect and touch down for the first try after 7 minutes of play. Reynold’s conversion (first of eleven) followed.

The next 10 minutes saw Dunlop take the initiative and spend time in the OLs half of the field but when possession was lost the game was switched quickly out along the OLs line for inside centre Ciaran O’Connor to cut through the Dunlop defence to touch down between the posts.

The match followed the same pattern with Dunlop pressing through the forwards but each time the Dunlop momentum failed OLs capitalised by adding further tries at regular intervals before half time with Paul Salvin scoring twice, Liam Wellings getting on the score sheet and Callum Semple and Ciaran O’Conner both scoring their second tries. A total of seven first half tries with five converted gave OLs a half time lead of 45 points to nil against securing the valuable bonus point.

The second half kicked off and inside two minutes OLs had added two more converted tries. The first was touched down by back row Ollie Sarginson who ran straight through the backpedalling Dunlop defence having collected the ball almost directly from the Dunlop kick off. When Dunlop restarted the game the ball was passed out to winger Salvin who outpaced the defenders to add his third try wide out on the right. The long conversion kick was successful.

The OLs forwards began to dominate and the game was now being played in the Dunlop half of the field. The next try came from a well worked maul that took the ball well into the Dunlop 22 from where scrum half Toby Lord crossed the line to touch down. With the home forwards now having dominance it was second row Joe Talamini that scored the next try following good home pressure and it was not long before fellow second row Hugh Melhuish added another try.

The last ten minutes of the game saw the OLs three quarters resuming where they left off in the first half with four more tries following fast and fluent flowing moves across the field with both wingers scoring two tries each. With the conversions that followed the final score took the OLs total over the 100 points mark and the scoreboard couldn’t cope with a three digit score. Dunlop competed well throughout the game but had no answer to the speed and fluent play of the whole squad OLs game plan. This was a fine performance and keeps OLs at the head of the table.

Next week sees OLs travel to Ledbury for a game that is always keenly contested. Kick off 2.15pm.

Report provided by Denis Fisher

Nick Crighton
OLRFC Press & Publicity Officer
07768 775601