St Brendan's Match Report

On a bright and sunny December afternoon Ashley Down welcomed the runaway league leaders, St Brendan's, to Lockleaze and the first 15 minutes of the game ran true to form with St Brendan's running in three tries. The trusty boot of Tom Coole managed two penalties for the home side but the score stood at 6 - 19 with three-quarters of the game remaining and things looked bleak for Ashley Down.

However, it was clear that they were not willing to give up without a fight and managed to battle their way back into the game and it was captain Ben Guy who, with the help of the rest of the pack, smashed his way to the line to reduce the deficit. Tom Coole's boot again added the extra points and the score was now a more respectable 13-19. This unexpected development for St Brendan's stung them back into action and they scored a fourth try just on half time and the conversion took the score 13-26 at the break and put them back in command of the game again.

From the touchline it only seemed like a matter of time until the visitors put the game to bed but the 15 players in purple and white had a very different perspective on how the game would progress. Every St Brendans attack was cut down by some fierce tackling in the backs and the forwards started to take control of set pieces and loose play. As the game progressed Ashley Down looked more confident and a push over try looked certain when the Brendan's pack collapsed and the referee had no alternative but to award a penalty try. The conversion reduced the arrears to six points and Ashley Down were back in the game.

St Brendan's now began to loose their composure and with 20 minutes of the game remaining Tom Coole was first to reach a clearance kick and used his former footballing skills to dribble the ball half the length of the pitch and won the race to the touchdown in the corner. His conversion from near the touchline just crept over the bar and suddenly Ashley Down were leading by a point. Strangely, St Brendan's now tried to take on a bigger, more experienced pack and came off second best.

Although most of the play was now taking place in the Ashley Down half the defence stood up to everything thrown at it. A stroke of luck saw a St Brendan's penalty strike an upright and the loose ball was gathered and cleared. With time running out the Ashley Down pack took control and were able to deprive the talented St Brendan's backs of the ball and, on several occasions, mauled their way down the pitch to make good yards and more importantly eat up time. It wasn't pretty rugby but it was exactly was needed at the time. The game ended with a penalty to Ashley Down and the kick to touch sealed a remarkable victory that seemed unlikely an hour earlier.

Impossible to name a “man of the match” - a terrific all round team effort from 1 to 15 against the team that will almost certainly be well clear at the top of the league at the end of the season, but captain Ben Guy lead the side like a man possessed and should take a great deal of credit for the victory.