Engineers vs UoB Freshers

Having won the first two games, everyone turned up looking to continue the good run. This match was particularly important as the University freshers are our unofficial derby match. The game kicked off with the Engineers going downhill.

The first bit of action came from Alex Clapton, playing for UOB, trucking it up the pitch until Oscar Sudgen put in a good hit to stop him dead. With the ball back in Engineers’ hands, Jemine Sagay offloads Sonny Bill style and a strong run of play follows with the ball getting trucked up the pitch with a series of chaos and fox balls. It eventually came to an end when chairman James O’Neill fumbles the ball with a clear run to the line.

Rob Dutton had suddenly stepped up his game for some reason until it was pointed out that the group of cheerleaders he invited had turned up. With this momentum behind the Engineers, Louis Bounds looked to score, but was pushed back over. A penalty was given to the Engineers 10m from the try line and Matt Oxborrow channelled his inner scrum half to take a quick tap penalty. However being a prop and understanding no rules for backs, it was brought back for a proper restart. After sustained pressure by the Engineers, Oxborrow redeemed himself with a blind side drive from the back of a ruck to score in the corner. Unfortunately, it was not converted.

Not too soon after the first try, there was another break away from an Engineers’ line out. A series of ambitious offloads eventually led to Rob Dutton scoring his first try. A good effort from the conversion but it narrowly went wide. Soon after the restart, Jemine Sagay turned over the ball well, the ball went out to Oscar Sugden who broke the line. Unfortunately, the ball was given away by an unsuccessful offload. With the first half drawing to a close, there was an extended period of pressure inside the Engineers’ 22m. It eventually came to nothing when possession was back with the Engineers and the counterattack was on. A scrappy try was eventually scored by Matt Oxborrow again for a total distance carried 2m throughout the half. Once again the try was not converted.

Second half kicked off, however not much happened for the first ten minutes. Ben Rowsell made a good break to link up with Charlie Sprang to make headway down the pitch. A scrum was called and a switch play from an 8 pick up between Ben Rowsell and Harry Bayston to put Bayston in to score. With a new kicker in the form of Josh Knight, a conversion finally went through the posts. Casio struck again with Alex Dickens making a good line to crash it up until he fumbled it forward. Soon after, the Engineers’ own Jacob Featherston scoring for the UOB.

With the match starting to draw to a close, the Engineers did not give up on the attack. After a good attack was strung together ending with a grubber kick going through to Ben Rowsell to score. Again, Josh Knight converted. Unfortunately, concentration waned a bit with UOB scoring just before the final whistle.

29-10
Tries: Matt Oxborrow (x2), Rob Dutton, Harry Baston, Ben Rowsell