Sat 11 Nov 2017

14:30

Match Report 11 Nov 17.

Saints Super 2’s lose out in hard fought game vs Old Grammarians..

This weekend Saints hosted Old Grammarians RFC a side that has been recording some strong results in HMMT 4. Saints missing a number of players due to injury and other commitments were bolstered by the addition of some UH players bolstering the ranks. Thanks to Toby, Jacob and Leo for togging out and putting in a good shift.

From kick off it was obvious this was going to be a physical game with some big tackles flying in and robust rucking and counter rucking from the start. In the opening 30 mins Saints definitely had the upper hand, despite being under some pressure at scrum time and the line out not quite firing. Much of this advantage came from the huge penalty count that OG's conceded in the opening period, there must have been 6 high tackle penalties and more than that for infringements at the ruck, I ran out of fingers when counting. I was also one of the voices on the side line querying if there should a yellow be produced, to no avail.

Strong carrying from the usual suspects in the forwards, most notably John S, George S and Roy D and some lovely lines and soft hands from the backs Stilly, Jacob and JD sent James T down the clubhouse touchline to take first blood. This was duly converted by Gregor. 7-0.

Saints should have taken more from this period of dominance and penalties galore but for some inaccuracy and good defence.

Some good pressure from saints won a kickable penalty which was slotted by Gregor. 10-0

The last 10 mins of the first half saw OG's sort out their discipline and put some pressure back on the Saints. They scored one try in this period with their 8 and 12 standing out in terms of carries. It could have been more only for the last ditch defence by the Saints back three. With Gregor pulling off at least one if not more try saving tackles, something he is making a habit of. His new found desire to step someone every time he got possession drawing vociferous criticism form injured team captain Scott M. This may have hampered his claiming another MOM in what was another impressive and confident shift at 15. Side Note: I blame Oli F for encouraging this outrageous overuse of the sidestep by the impressionable up and coming young players at the club.

OG's did eventually score a try after their 8 made a break through the middle of the saints defence to set up the score which was converted to make it 10-7.


The second half was even more of a physical contest and a bit of an arm wrestle. Both sides making breaks only to be denied by ferocious defence. I was suprised not to have seen more injuries from this game given the physicality. Saints lost two through injury Stilly and Sean, lets hope they have a speedy recovery.

A resolute Saints defence limited OG's to two penalties in the first 20mins of the second half, a 6 point return for the massive effort put in by OG's showed the grit of the Saints , defence. 10-13.

This effort told on OG's and led to Saints getting go forward ball and applying a period of sustained pressure on OG's line which they desperately defended. They held several Saints players up over the try line a couple of times as Saints battered away at the defense close to the line. This pressure eventually told and the evergreen John S drove over to score a try in the corner which wasn't converted to leave Saints with a narrow lead at 15-13. Unfortunately John S seems to have contracted some kind of "vomitting bug" in scoring his try as he reportedly was very unwell later that night culminating in an impressive display of digestive pyrotechnics. Its all hope he recovers for the next game against Stevenage RFC.

The second 20 mins involved a lot of defending for Saints and they managed to frustrate the OG's attack, forcing them to go for goal on any kickable penalties. Kicking one and missing two to leave it at 15-16.

It remained a fiercely contested and incredibly close game until a few minutes from time OG's found a way through the Saints defence to score in the corner to make it 21-16.

Then from the restart following the try the young Saints wing Leo, who had been working hard and chasing restarts all day got his chance and he took it. He put his pace to good use to get up under the drop off and absolutely levelled the opposition forward knocking the ball free in the process. Saints then threw everything they had left at OG's for the last few mins, but to no avail. OG's regained possession with time up and cleared it to touch to claim the win. A disappointing loss in a hard fought game.

It's worth mentioning OG's have only registered one loss in the competition, their first game. OG's looked like a team that has played and trained together consistently. Saints need to find some consistency in the second half of the competition to stand a chance to challenge for the league title.


Man of the match went to Leo and I think George S deserves a mention for putting in a big shift playing in a less preferred position at hooker.


Week off next week for the sore bodies to recover before Stevenage RFC at home on the 25th Nov.


B.O'C

Division 4