Longlevens Match Report

Frampton welcomed their visitors Longlevens to the Stade de Fram on a cold, wet, windy and thoroughly miserable winter afternoon. The pitch was very wet, but was playable. Conditions would dictate that control of the ball and possession would be crucial. The rain did at least stop for the start of the match.

Playing into the strong wind which was blowing across the pitch towards Crossbow, Frampton started the better of the two teams. After five minutes Brandon Ball caught the opposition napping by picking and going straight through the ruck to score a good opportunist try at the posts which Lewis Oakley duly converted. 7-0 to Frampton.

This was the last that Frampton would see of the opposition’s half for quite some time as Longlevens then took control of possession and the match by playing a good pacey style of rugby. They mixed up their tactics well, keeping Frampton firmly on the back foot. Frampton showed tremendous resilience in defence, without which Longlevens would surely have run away with the game before half time. Inevitably the pressure did tell with Frampton conceding two converted tries to leave them behind by 14 points to 7.

From the restart, and to their great credit, Frampton managed to play their way into Longlevens’ twenty two. Choosing to scrum when they awarded a penalty five metres from Longlevens’ line, it looked very much like Frampton would score a pushover try. However, captain Josh Creed decided to pick up the ball and was rewarded by driving for the line and touching down in the corner. Lewis Oakley landed an excellent conversion from wide out to leave the score all square at 14 points each.

Longlevens were not to be out done and immediately put Frampton back under pressure to score a good unconverted try just before half time, leaving the score at 19 points to 14 in favour of the visitors at the break.

Now playing with the wind at their backs, Frampton would have been confident of taking control of the match in the second half. It was however Longlevens who scored next following a couple of badly missed one on one tackles by the home side. Longlevens were not able to convert their try which left Frampton trailing by 24 to 14.

The Frampton of old may have folded at this point, but this predominantly young side is made of sterner stuff. They refused to lie down and stormed back into the opposition twenty two following a good kick into the corner which was chased up well by Kobie McGlashan. Frampton forced the ball over the line, but the referee ruled that the ball had been held up and awarded a five metre scrum to Frampton. From the scrum Frampton pushed the visitors back over their line at some pace for Josh Creed to claim an excellent try for the pack. Lewis Oakley added the conversion with a fine kick to bring Frampton back into the game at 24 points to 21.

Frampton continued to take the game to Longlevens. There were occasions when it appeared that it would have been better to use the wind and kick for position in the Longlevens twenty two, but Frampton were determined to handle the ball. Eventually Frampton did work their way back into Longlevens territory and James Carver crashed over out wide on the right to give Frampton the lead and a try scoring bonus point. Lewis Oakley converted again to make the score 28-24 to Frampton.

Frampton’s tails were now up. They were awarded a penalty in midfield which Lewis Oakley kicked with aplomb. 31-24 to Frampton.

Longlevens continued to play good, varied rugby to try to get back into the game. They did look dangerous on occasions, but a combination of good defence and dropped passes thwarted them. It was Frampton who scored next when Lewis Oakley intercepted a Longlevens’ pass on halfway to outpace the defence and score a try under the posts. Lewis converted his own try. 38-24 to Frampton, but crucially two scores ahead.

Frampton had the final word when they were awarded a penalty on the visitors’ twenty two. Lewis Oakley stepped up to kick the goal and to maintain his faultless kicking performance, after which the referee blew for full time. Final score 41-24 to Frampton.

This was a very good win for Frampton against a more than useful Longlevens side. At half time the match was in the balance, but Frampton dug deep and saw out the game confidently. The victory lifted Frampton to third place in the league, one point behind Hucclecote to whom they had lost the previous weekend. It was a good end to the first half of the season. Man of the match was Lewis Oakley for his all round performance and excellent goal kicking.

Finally, may we take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and new year. We hope to see you at Crossbow in 2019.

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