Big test for Shrewsbury!

Shrewsbury welcomed unbeaten league leaders Luctonian IIs to Sundorne Castle on Saturday looking to build on last week’s imprressive performance away at Longton.

Shrewsbury elected to start with the slope giving Lucs the kick off, and were able to successfully clear their lines to give the visitors a line out just inside their own half. Some solid defence from the first few phases forced a spillage at the ruck for Mike Venn to create the ruck. Then a cross field kick from Dom allowed Shrewsbury to build pressure on the edge of the Lucs 22 forcing them to Kick ahead and ultimately knock on the attempted gather, giving Shrewsbury a Scrum just inside the Lucs half on the left-hand side.

A solid set piece enabled Shrewsbury to look to build the phases with carries from Sam Preece, Mike Venn and Lewis Jenkins, creating quick ruck ball for Rob Sankey to break the line on the inside shoulder of Fly Half Dom Phillips. An unfortunate knock on at the ruck led to a Lucs scrum just outside their 22, but this was a promising start by the home side.

Shrewsbury pressured the Lucs scrum and they cleared their lines up to the halfway. Nathan Hardwick ran a good line against the flow of play off the line out, allowing George Adams to then crash the ball up. A misplaced pass from the ruck however gave Lucs a scrum on the halfway line. Shrewsbury’s defence from the resulting phases forced Lucs to kick, and with the kick going too long gave Shrewsbury a line out back on half way. Solid carrying amongst the forwards again forced a penalty to the home side, with Will Beddoes taking play up to the Lucs 22 for a Shrewsbury lineout. A knock on by Lucs in the line out enabled Nathan Hardwick to dive on the loose ball, before prop Ed John found a break in the line to charge through up to the Lucs 5 metre line. A quick ruck from the supporting players enabled slick hands from Jack Bevan to Henry Martin and then Sam Preece to break through and dot down for the first score of the game. Dom Phillips adding the extra 2. Score: 7 – 0

Shrewsbury looked to build again from the restart with carries from Mike Venn and Rob Sankey forcing a penalty at the breakdown to Shrewsbury. Beddoes kicking for distance again took play up to the 22 for a Shrewsbury line out. Quick hands from Liam Deery and George Adams off the lineout were unable to capitalise from the Lucs knock on at the line out, giving Shrewsbury a scrum on the right-hand side of the park. Looking to go up the blind a handling error gave Lucs the opportunity to kick ahead and take play into the Shrewsbury half, where they were rewarded with a line out just outside the 22. A number of hard carrying phases followed with Lucs drawing the penalty from a high tackle, and opting to take the kick to earn their first points of the game. Score: 7 – 3

Play then became a battle for territory with the full backs exchanging kicks with neither side looking to give an inch, until a kick to touch gave Shrewsbury a line out just outside the Lucs 22. Setting for the drive the forwards made good ground before the backs were released. Some quick feet from Dom Phillips set up the ruck for Mike Venn to then release Nathan Hardwick to charge forward once more. George Adams then made some good ground from the quick ruck ball being distributed by Jack Bevan. Then Sam Preece took the ball up and the quick support managed to draw another penalty from Lucs at the breakdown for off feet and slowing the ball down. With the advantage, Tom Cookson carried up the blind side up to the 5-metre line before Mike Venn firmly carried the ball up and over the try line only to be held up by the resolute Lucs defence.

The referee called play back with no advantage from the penalty coming and Shrewsbury kicked to the corner to set up a maul from the line out. Lucs defenced well and looked to have turned possession over, however a knock on gave Shrewsbury a good scrum position, but Lucs now with their backs against the wall dug deep and drew a scrum penalty to relieve the pressure. Lucs were unable to gain any momentum to get into the Shrewsbury half and Sam Preece tackled well to give Tom Cookson a great opportunity to turnover, with the referee penalising Lucs for holding on, dissent then gave Shrewsbury an extra 10 metres for the kick to then be within range for Dom Phillips to look to add the extras, unfortunately this was pushed just wide giving Lucs the 22 drop out.

Jamie Claire carried hard to then give Dom Phillips some space to kick through and turn the Lucs defence taking them back into their 22 enabling Shrewsbury to once again build the pressure. An over throw at the line out gave Jack Bevan the opportunity to pounce, and the forwards then built a number of phases, to try and make ground towards the try line. Lucs defended well and after a number of phases held Shrewsbury out until for safety play was stopped, with a Lucs player receiving treatment and play restarted with a scrum to Shrewsbury on the 5-metre line to the right of the posts.

A quick phase up the blind to draw the Lucs defence over meant the forwards could then carry hard and quick, with Lewis Jenkins and Jamie Claire, before the backs were released and a lovely timed pass from Dom Phillips to Sam Preece allowed him to go over for the score in the shadow of the uprights, making it the simplest of conversions for Dom Phillips. Score: 14 – 3

A fumble from the restart gave Lucs a scrum on the edge of the Shrewsbury 22. A penalty was earnt, and with advantage they looked to find width but couldn’t break the blue wall down. A quick penalty stretched the defence but their composure was able to force a knock on in the tackle and some quick hands and direct running soon took play back up to the halfway before a kick from Dom Phillips pushed Lucs back and Shrewsbury were once again defending but this time in Lucs half. A penalty for holding on in the ruck gave Lucs the opportunity for a line out on the 22, but solid defence once again forced the knock on and from the scrum Shrewsbury could take play back towards the half way line.
Shrewsbury putting pressure on the line out forced a “not straight” call and from the scrum Jack Bevan broke up the blind to release Liam Deery, who managed to get the ball away to Dom Phillips who found Nathan Hardwick, with a determined run into the Lucs 22, unfortunately a knock on at the ruck gave Lucs the scrum. However good pressure forced the forward pass and Shrewsbury once again had a scrum in the Lucs 22.

With Shrewsbury looking dangerous the backs span the ball well but were unfortunately held up in a maul giving Lucs the scrum once more. A good break by them and a kick through resulted in a couple of knock-ons, with a scrum taking place on the halfway.
With 30 seconds of the half remaining they looked to spread the ball wide but the Shrewsbury defence remained solid and forced the knock on for the half time whistle.

HT: Shrewsbury 14 – 3 Luctonian IIs

Shrewsbury kicked off up the slope for the second half, unfortunately conceding a couple of penalties giving Lucs the opportunity to build pressure and take play down to the Shrewsbury 5metre line. Lucs looked to keep the ball in the forwards and from the maul were able to draw another penalty. Shrewsbury defenced remained solid initially however, some quick hands against a back-tracking defence gave Lucs the first score of the half close to the posts with the conversion slotted. Score: 14 – 10

Play stayed between the two 10 metre lines for quite sometime with neither side managing to get a solid foothold in the second half since the early Lucs score. However, it was Shrewsbury who struck next with a lineout on halfway and a couple of rucks into the middle giving the backs space to go back against the grain for Henry Martin to find Tom Cookson on the wing who popped neatly to electric back Sam Preece looking for his hattrick to evade a number of tacklers before being brought down just short. An unfortunate knock on gave Lucs a scrum on their own 5 metre line. Pressure on the reset scrum forced a hand from Lucs to protect the put in, giving Shrewsbury a free kick, after a quick tap and some rumbling phases from the forwards, allowing Max Vernon to power over for a score under the posts, Dom Phillips naturally adding the extra 2. Score: 21 – 10

Lucs now trailing, something they wouldn’t have been used to this season judging by their other results, were looking to chase the game, a penalty from the kick off gave them the opportunity for a line out deep in the Shrewsbury 22 and a very good throw to the back and a solid maul, enabled them to capitalise and cancel out the previous Shrewsbury score almost immediately however the kicker was unable to convert from out wide. Score: 21 – 15

The restart going too long gave Lucs the scrum on the half way and some determined carrying took them once again into the Shrewsbury half. A knock on by Shrewsbury gave Lucs another scrum inside the Shrewsbury half and another solid carry drew a penalty at the ruck, quick play from Lucs went blind and drew a further penalty inside the Shrewsbury 22 where they kicked for the corner. Shrewsbury knew another maul was to come and this time held the initial drive out well, however Lucs remain composed and moving forwards, but Shrewsbury were able to hold them short and earn a scrum on their 5-metre line to look to clear their line and the pressure from Lucs. However, the kick failed to find touch and was taken well by the Lucs backs, looking to find space and carrying hard into the Shrewsbury 22. A deft kick went just too long for the chasing backs, bringing it back for a 22 drop out to Shrewsbury.

More kicking for territory followed by either side, Shrewsbury looking to capitalise on their lead and Lucs looking to exert pressure and change the score line. Going into the final quarter a penalty to Shrewsbury took them to have a line out just outside the Lucs 22. A number of phases saw Shrewsbury look to break them down as one more score would likely have been enough to see the game out. However, a penalty for holding on enable Lucs to take a lineout on the half way. Shrewsbury were able to stop the maul and take the scrum put in. Henry Martin broke the line and Shrewsbury looked for width, however a holding on penalty and subsequent chat back gave Lucs an extra 10 metres kick for a line out on the Shrewsbury 22 with 10 minutes to go.

Opting for hard running and quick hands, Lucs found space and were able to carry up to the Shrewsbury 5 metre line before a swift pass to the right beat the defence to score in the corner. A difficult kick was pushed wide of the posts leaving Shrewsbury still in the lead with less than 10 minutes to go. Score: 21 – 20

Lucs gathered the restart well and kicked for territory, Will Beddoes managed to gather the kick and feed George Adams to return hard. After a few carries Lucs forced the turnover, but after a late hit following the kick chase the penalty was given to Shrewsbury now looking to close the game out. A solid kick from Beddoes took Shrewsbury just outside the Lucs 22 with the put in at the line out. Unfortunately, it was deemed “not straight” giving Lucs a scrum but with a long way to go. They managed to earn a penalty from the scrum, and opting to kick long managed to take play upto the Shrewsbury 2 with their line out throw to come. Going back to their well worked maul they were given advantage for a Shrewsbury infringement and played with a renewed determination, carrying strong and passing to space. The Shrewsbury defence remained strong and looked to shut down any space they had. Creating what looked to be a 3 on 2 on the right-hand side, Tom Cookson looked to tackle man and ball as the last man standing, meanwhile the Lucs player had looked to pass swiftly leading Tom to knock the ball forward as he made the tackle, leaving the ref with unfortunately no option but to award the penalty try and send Cookson to the sin-bin with a yellow card as had the pass got away it was highly probable Lucs would have scored. Score: 21 – 27

With Lucs in the lead for the first time and the clock against Shrewsbury, it needed the herculean efforts of the previous week to take place once more. A well-placed restart and counter ruck gave Shrewsbury possession in the Lucs half, finding width Shrewsbury were able to release elusive runner Sam Preece, and the last-ditch cover tackle forcing a penalty for hands in the ruck. Shrewsbury opted to kick for the corner giving them 7 metres to get over the white wash. Lucs challenged and forced the knock on and then proceeded to play a couple of phases before Shrewsbury were able to force an error. However, play came back for the original infringement, meaning Lucs had the put in at the scrum and a couple of phases after were able to put the ball dead as the final play of the game.

FINAL SCORE: Shrewsbury 21 – 27 Luctonian IIs

Luctonians continue their unbeaten run in the league but Shrewsbury once again put in a performance to be proud of. The squad will take a well-earned break this weekend before taking on Newcastle (Staffs) away on Saturday 26th November.