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Cavaliers Bounce Back Against Richmond

Cavaliers Bounce Back Against Richmond

John Connaughton6 Jun 2018 - 20:02
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Captain Cam Scott came back to the side to guide the Cavaliers to an impressive victory with a new look squad.

Oxford Cavaliers welcomed Richmond for their second home game of the season hoping to improve on the heavy defeat they suffered at the hands of Hemel in their previous outing. Good defensive work from hooker Callum Snook early on was undone when two early penalties for offside gave Richmond the lead with a try from dummy half within five minutes. A Richmond knock on from the restart gave the home side the ball but they wasted the opportunity to attack when they were tackled into touch on tackle one. It was taking Cavaliers a while to settle and confidence was clearly low as they knocked on again on the first in their second attacking set. Marcus Reading finally settled the nerves as he scored from close range on 11 minutes, the first real possession for the home side converted by captain Cam Scott. A strong run by Scott to halfway on tackle one of the restart, followed by slick handling from Will James and Reading on the second to send in man of the match Owen Michael for his first try for Cavaliers. The try converted again by Scott, the scoreline now 12-4 to the home side. Richmond hit back with a try on 20 mins after some poor defensive work from Cavaliers which was converted to make the scores 12-10. A penalty was then awarded to Richmond on the second tackle for holding down but big defence from loose forward Alex Knight forced a knock on. Then came a length of the field try from Scott who converted his own try to take his own tally to 10, the scoreline now 18-10. Six consecutive tackles from Will James on the Cavaliers try line was not enough to keep the away side out before half time, the conversion missed leaving a half time score of 18-14.

Cavaliers lost the ball on tackle three of the restart due to some poor handling and then gave away a penalty for interference at the play the ball. The first try of the half however came from Snook who touched down in the corner, the Cavaliers were now ahead 22-14. The home side then lost the ball on the first tackle, trying to go wide rather than settling with possession. Liam Antrobus then got on the scoresheet after breaking through a tackle on half way and finishing under the posts, Cavaliers were now 28-14 ahead after 40 minutes. The pattern continued however as the home side again lost possession on the first tackle after poor handling poor. This brought about more outstanding try line defence from Knight who almost single handedly kept the visitors out. Will James got his name on the scoresheet with a trademark length of the field try after a simple switch with Reading on their own try line, converted by Scott to make the score 34-14 to the Cavaliers with 10 minutes to play. Full back Jake Relton then got in on the action scoring under the posts converted by Scott taking the scoreline to 40-14. A second try from Antrobus after slick handling from Relton. Scott again added the extras, Cavaliers 46 Richmond 14. Richmond hit back with a try after indiscipline cost the home side, interference at the play the ball becoming an issue due to the inexperience of the new Cavaliers players. The conversion was missed so the scoreline now read 46-18. Cavaliers had to have the final say though as they crossed the line after a great take from full back Relton from a high ball who then produced a good offload to Ben Hampson who went over in the corner to score his first try for the club. Scott finished the game with a touchline conversion and a personal tally of 20 points and giving a final score of 52-18 to Oxford Cavaliers.

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