Union again dominate at the set-piece

Union again dominate at the set piece, especially the scrum, but fail to turn that dominance into points and have to be satisfied with a losing bonus point as their only reward from the game.

Union started brightly, however an attempt to push the ball wide ended in their hosts right wing gathering a loose ball and racing down the touchline to score the opening try and take a 5-nil lead on the 5-minute mark.

Union shocked by this rallied and there followed a 30-minute battle up front, with neither side being able to take the upper hand. However, Union broke the deadlock as they spun the ball wide from a scrum 10m out from the YM try-line, David Sheldon-Smillie the recipient of ball in space for the first time was able to skip past his opposite number and score a fine try in the left corner. Matt O’Brien was unable to add the conversion, so the score was level at 5-5 with only a few minutes of the half left.

The hosts were not finished their outside centre rounding the Union defences to score just to the right of the posts, allowing for a simple conversion which the duly scored to take a 12-5 lead. Union weren’t finished though as the hosts made the mistake of not contesting an attacking lineout allowing Lewi White to take the ball and barge over the line with little opposition to score. O’Brien was unable to add the extras, so the half time score was 12-10.

YM were soon on the scoreboard following the break as Union failed to exit their own 22m with a kick to touch, the hosts back division ceasing the opportunity to counter and score another converted try to stretch their lead to 19-10.

The hosts were again on the scoreboard a fumble by Union in midfield gifting the YM back turnover ball that they quickly shipped to their left wing who scored an unconverted try in the corner to take their lead to 24-10 as the game approached the final quarter.

Union spent much of the quarter camped in the YM 22m and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty try as the opposition conceded penalty after penalty at the scrum. Union did however score through captain Matt Spenceley, who initially picked and popped the ball to scrum-half Davis from another dominant scrum, the ball initially being shipped to the backs, then to Whalebone man of the match Simon Pitcher before numerous members of the Union pack battered the YM defences through a further five phases of play before the ball was spun to the midfield, where Spenceley crashed over the line to score. O’Brien adding the crucial extra two points to take the score to 24-17 to take Union to within 7 points of their opposition with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Ipswich YM however closed the game out to secure a win pinning Union in their own 22m who despite several valiant attempts were unable to break out, so the game ended with Union having to be satisfied with a single losing bonus point for their efforts.

Next week Union entertain Woodbridge at home, an ex-player’s lunch will swell the crowd, kick off is 3pm, the Firebirds are away at Swaffham, which also kicks off at 3pm.

Team: Chris Spenceley, Ben Bond-Webster, Simon Pitcher, Lewis White, Lewis Smith, Jon Spicker, Matt Spenceley (c), Craig Dunbar, Lloyd Davis, Jay O’Brien, David Sheldon-Smillie, Luke Hill, Ryan Day, Shaun Lohan, Matt O’Brien Replacements: Martin Webb, Sam Hill, Tristan Smith
Scorers: David Sheldon-Smillie 1T, Lewi White 1T, Matt Spenceley 1T, Matt O’Brien 1C from 3 attempts