Saints Creep Closer to Safety

With the weather finally relenting the good news continued with the news that Ollie Raine was returning to action following the double wrist fracture suffered in pre-season. However, the unfortunate Raine suffered a back spasm in the warm-up and struggled gamely through the first half.
It nearly went from bad to worse for the Bulls as, straight from the kick-off, they conceded a penalty; fortunately the Casuals fly-half had left his kicking boots at home as the opportunity to open the scoring drifted wide, this was confirmed as shortly after he had another chance from the opposite side of the pitch with the same result.
The first quarter was dominated, both possession and territory wise, by Casuals although they rarely ventured into the Bulls twenty-two. With the Bulls defence remaining steadfast a dropped ball by the opposition midfield presented an opening for Ben Fleming to break clear, only to be hauled down close to half-way.
With Casuals to the fore, St. Ives managed to turnover possession and earn a scrum on their own 22, a slick move put Alex Henly into space and he broke clear of the smothering defence and headed downfield, his kick over the last defender bounced a little unkindly and Casuals were able to clear the danger, but St. Ives now had a foothold in the game. The hosts were able to work their way out of defence and again moved into the St. Ives half. An interception on his own 22 from John Naylor led to another period of St. Ives pressure eventually bearing no fruit as Casuals again pushed the Bulls back into their own half.
With half an hour gone the game remained scoreless, but a dropped pass in midfield invited more pressure on the Bulls, but the scramble defence remained solid. A defensive scrum was cleared, but the subsequent line-out enabled the home team to spin it out to an unmarked winger who was able to claim the first score of the day.
The restart provided a promising attack which was swiftly stifled and as St. Ives looked to level the scores before half-time they were unable to gain any forward momentum and it remained 5-0 to the home side at the break.

St. Ives started the second half with the wind at their backs and looked to dominate their opponents. Casuals found a hole in the Bulls back line and broke upfield only to knock-on. Looking to gain substantial ground the relieving kick was overcooked, inviting the hosts to add more pressure with the Bulls infringing at the breakdown. With kicking boots in the kitchen at home, Casuals opted for the scrum but the resolute defence pressured the hosts into dropping the ball, enabling St. Ives to get back on the attack, but another penalty gave the hosts some respite.
From the ensuing Casuals lineout, St. Ives were able to break through scrum-half Joseph Cox who raced up to hosts 22 before being tackled. Now established in the opposition half, St. Ives were able to mount a series of attacks. Persistent infringing by Casuals enabled St. Ives to exert further pressure, and from a 5m lineout Ollie Bartlett was able to drive over to level the scores with twenty minutes remaining. The conversion, from out wide, narrowly missed the target.
With both sides looking for a winning score there were lots of dropped balls none more important than what appeared to be a try scoring pass being dropped by the Casuals winger with the line at his mercy. Bartlett left the field with 10 minutes left having taken a knock – shortly after another period of pressure provided Ives with a penalty, which again agonisingly drifted just wide of the posts. The final few minutes, like the majority of the game was played out between the two 22s as one last attack from the visitors was repelled.
FT: 5 – 5