Vandals 17 Old Alleynians 10

Weybridge Vandals 17 Old Alleynians 10

Having beaten second place Sandown and Shanklin a fortnight ago, Vandals went one better at the weekend by defeating the league champions Old Alleynians. It has been a superb end to the season for Vandals and fully merited. The boys, led by skipper Tony Couzens have trained hard for the last few weeks and they were confident they could topple Old Alleynians. Their confidence was well founded with every member of the team from playing with energy, passion and total commitment. The defence was outstanding, and time and again, the visitors were chopped down in their stride as they attempted to play their normal running game which has brought them so many wins this season. Vandals were simply too good for Alleynians and in Cassian Bramham Law they had a match winner. He scored 2 tries against Sandown and his try in the second half of this game was an absolute belter, and came just at the right time after Alleynians had drawn level at 10 all. At 17 - 10 Vandals continued thief offensive until the final whistle denying Alleynians any chance to get back into the game. It was a tremendous win for Vandals, one they celebrated long in to the evening. Their success was due to great team spirit and honest endeavour of the squad and credit must go to the coaching of Nick Ridley and John Perrin. They have shown great dedication and commitment throughout the season and the last 2 victories have been just reward for their hard work. The irony of Vandals success in beating the top 2 sides is that they still may be relegated as they have finished 9th out of 12 teams and the organising committee have not yet announced whether 3 or 4 teams will be relegated. They certainly do not deserve to go down, and all Vandals players and supporters alike will be praying it is only 3 sides that are relegated.

After early pressure by Alleynians, Vandals laid down a pointer for the game with a great first scrum and they held this ascendancy in the set piece for much of the match. Number 8 Adam Bullett then made a fine break but when the ball was moved wide Vandals were penalised for crossing. They soon regained possession and a burst from centre Bramham Law took play in to Alleynians 22. They were piling on the pressure in the scrums and forcing the old boys to concede penalties but the 2 attempts Bramham Law had were pulled wide. Alleynians rallied but could not get past the solid defence. They did take the lead with a penalty of their own after Vandals infringed at a line out, but it was a fragile advantage.

The contact areas were hugely physical and lock Lewis Bryant won a great turn over. Alleynians briefly got their hands on the ball but another crunching tackle in midfield gave Vandals a scrum from which they kicked deep in to the visitors half. From the line out they moved the ball in to midfield and after driving forward from the ruck Vandals scored the try that they had threatened for most of the half, lock Daryl Bryant powering over for the score. Bramham Law converted and then slotted a penalty to give his side a 10-3 lead. Alleynians struck back with a concerted attack, and managed to break the defence for virtually the first time, scoring a fine try in the corner. The difficult conversion was successful and at 10-10 it was game on. Perhaps earlier in the season Vandals might have capitulated, but having fought so brilliantly in this game and with their league survival in the balance they were determined to go out on a winning note. Good ground by prop Craig Decouteu set the team up in an attacking position and it was Cassian Bramham Law who burst through the Alleynians defence to score a sensational try. His conversion was a formality. There was now no way back for Alleynians and the tackles were flying in with renewed vigour as Vandals deservedly closed the game out. Vandals league status is now in the hands of the league organisers.