Yarnbury Come From Behind to Win Challenging Game against Roundhegians

Roundhegians (10) 18
Yarnbury (0) 26
Tries: Ruairi Daly, Josh Dunn, Saman Azari, Sam Brown
Cons: Maxwell Lee (3)

Roundhegians had most of the ball in the early exchanges, but territory was fairly even due to well placed kicks and a number line breaks by each team. However the abundance of possession gave the home side the first score. After kicking deep Matt Schofield then kicked back as to clear, the ball was gathered by the Roundhegians full back and a few phases were played with minimal success. However the defence was drawn in, leaving a small overlap. One of the backs was able to dummy a pass and made a clean break, leaving a 2 on 1 situation against the Yarnbury full back. The pass was made and they scored in the corner. The conversion was missed, but 5 minutes in, Roundhegians had a 5 point lead. The following minutes provided some very close and cagey rugby, but the Yarnbury defence failed to really put Roundhegians under pressure, allowing them to come forward. A couple of good turn overs by James Longhawn playing at fly half, stopped the attack from getting much further though. Roundhegians did manufacture another chance soon after this, where they seemed to have space for both wingers to run and possibly score. They went down the more crowded side and a difficult attempted pass went forward and into touch.

Yarnbury’s line out failed to function on a number of occasions throughout the match, which regularly awarded Roundhegians possession. On one of these occasions the jumper knocked on and the following scrum provided a good attacking platform half way between the 22 and half way line. Their number eight broke around the blind side making 10 metres, before another one of their forwards could get deep into the 22 before being stopped. Pick and drives were then all that was required for Roundhegians to score again, and although the conversion was missed the home side now had a 10 point lead 24 minutes into the match. Yarnbury had two good try scoring chances before the half was up, one from a lineout, although the ball was almost immediately lost in the maul, and the other came from pick and drives inside the 22, but when the space opened up for one final drive to the corner, the ball was knocked on. Half time Roundhegians 10-0 Yarnbury.

Yarnbury kicked off the second half, and from one of the first breakdowns the ball was turned over by Yarnbury who were awarded a penalty. Edward Green quickly took the penalty and ran in it in, making 10 metres, and then pick and drives saw the away side make their way to the line, where Ruairi Daly delivered the final drive. The conversion struck the post and bounced away; 10-5. The linkup between the Roundhegians backs continued to cause Yarnbury problems in the second half as the defence struggled to get a hand on them. One move saw them make 35 metres and break into the 22, but the covering defence just managed to stop them in time, before the ball was then played into the middle, where play was stopped following a maul due to a Yarnbury infringement. Such was the competitive nature of the game that Roundhegians decided to kick the penalty, which was successful, so that they were more than one score in the lead; 13-5.

Still relatively early in the second half Roundhegians strengthened their lead with another score. From just inside their own half the ball was thrown wide and their fly half again dummied and made a clean break up the pitch. He really should have been tackled but averted being brought down until he reached the corner where he threw a quite frankly unbelievable offload back inside allowing his supporting runner to score. The conversion was missed, but Roundhegians now had a 13 point lead. From the restart James Longhawn made another great turnover, winning Yarnbury a penalty from the very first breakdown. The penalty was taken deep in the 22, where Maxwell Lee took it quickly and passed it to Josh Dunn who beat 4 players and then managed to run around to score under the posts. The conversion was kicked and the lead was reduced to 6; 18-12.

Yarnbury’s game improved all round after the last score, and they were starting to put Roundhegians under pressure. With the ball in their own 22 the home side put in a clearance kick that was caught well by Matt Schofield who ran back at the defence creating a chance for Jamie McDonnell outside him but after the pass was made the ball slipped out of the winger’s hands and Roundhegians had a scrum. The ball came out and Roundhegians tried to run it out however they were quickly penalised for not realising the ball in the ruck. Edward Green quickly took the penalty once more and after a couple of pick and drives, Saman Azari who had been running dangerously all game, scored under the posts. The conversion was kicked, so now Yarnbury led for the first time in the match, but only by 1 point.

Yarnbury were now under constant pressure as Roundhegians attempted to rescue a game that they had been leading for so long. This led to tempers flaring and after a good turnover by Sam Brown, a fight ensued and both Carter Proctor and a Roundhegians forward were yellow carded and would miss the rest of the match. Yarnbury played well after winning this penalty and managed to make their way up to the Roundhegians 22 with ball in hand. They won yet another breakdown penalty, and played it quickly once more and Matt Schofield got over the line in the corner, but was held up. An uncontested 5m scrum followed, and a couple of phases were played before the ever illusive Sam Brown broke and scored under the posts, finishing with multiple players latched on to him. The conversion was kicked and the game was all but done apart from one final Roundhegians attack. After applying constant pressure, the clock went into overtime, but still Roundhegians tried as hard as they could to get one more try to make the score line look more respectable. However Yarnbury’s defence just about stayed strong and eventually a penalty was awarded to the travellers after they managed to get over the ball, which was then booted into touch. Full time Roundhegians 18-26 Yarnbury.

Yarnbury: Matt Schofield, Jamie McDonnell, Josh Dunn, Edward Green (capt), Jacob Rawson, James Longhawn, Maxwell Lee, Carter Proctor, Sam Brown, Saman Azari, Jimmy Swaver, Jack Brownridge, Ruiari Daly, Joe Pilling, Alex Koppany

Replacements: Leo Mercer

Man of the Match: Saman Azari, ran superbly at the defensive line, made multiple tackles, and scored his try, and we have to remember that he is still relatively new to rugby.