Check all the action from the final weekend of league action in Powergen London One.
Hertford 16 (Try: Barella. Con: Barella. Pens: Barella 3.)
Havant 23 (Tries: Cruddas, McGovern, Molyneux. Con: Claffey. Pens: Claffey 2.)
Our last chance to win London 1 went out of the window last Saturday as we were beaten by a well organised and wholly committed team who had been given a life line by our unexpected defeat at OA’S and they grabbed it with both hands.
Sid Claffey and Neil Barella must be two of the best strikers of a rugby ball playing at this level as both gave superb displays of place kicking, the former although missing with two penalty attempts both hit the post.
Not to be outdone Barella struck home 3 penalties and a conversion of his own superb try the first penalty into the wind from 40 metres sailed well clear and would have gone over from 20 metres further back.
A huge crowd came to watch and they were not disappointed in a match full of tension and endeavour between the best two teams in the league however only the result went the wrong way.
The opening minutes set the trend of the game our front row getting on top only to be penalised by the referee who did not understand the vagaries of the scrum and gave a number of penalties against us when we were driving forward, however as the game went on we lost this advantage as the Havant pack came back at us.
Claffey had the first chance to open the score after 3 minutes but missed, his second opportunity sailed through after a further 4 minutes this chance came about after a penalty kick to touch did not find it’s mark. Barella replied within 5 minutes with that wonderful strike.
Good possession was difficult to gain as the two Nick’s in the Havant second row not only won all their own line out ball but also “nicked” or disrupted our ball, which made life difficult for us to go through any phases of play.
The next score of the game came after 33 minutes and it was the boot of Claffey who slotted a penalty from close range Neil McGovern the visitors right wing should have scored after being put clear but a superb last ditch tackle from Lewis held him up over the line, from the 5 metre scrum Havant cleverly wheeled their put in and drove for the line hooker Steve Cruddas was awarded the score.
With half time approaching Storey and then Harris attacked up the middle and with Harris almost to the line he lost possession in the tackle and the chance was gone.
Turning round with the breeze 11-3 down did not seem to high a mountain to climb but the first score was to be important and it was Barella who landed another penalty from wide out on the right touch. Barella looked to be going to score as he broke clear he chipped ahead but was cynically late tackled surprisingly a yellow card did not appear but a penalty was awarded and the scrum taken 5 metres out. Riddle attacked blind but was stopped at the resulting ruck Dylan Raubenheimer was then carded for a professional foul at the breakdown.
The turning point of the game came at the resulting penalty, a 5-metre scrum which we were unable to drive over with the extra man however Barella did close the gap with his third penalty to 9-11.
From the restart we were unable to clear the ball and a Havant turn over looked to have put fullback Stapleton clear but a magnificent tackle from Ben Storey stopped him and a huge sigh of relief was heard as he was also penalised for not releasing.
The loss of the ensuing line out gave Havant the chance to attack out wide and the danger seemed to have been quelled but captain Dave Hesketh was deemed to have come in from the side to kill the ball and was given 10 minutes in the cooler.
The line out was stolen by Church and a 5-metre scrum awarded to us which Havant messed up and were rewarded with their own Archer a local boy playing for Havant picked up under pressure and drove for the line in our desperation to defend we offended and the resulting quick penalty by Davenport freed winger McGovern to score unopposed in the corner, Claffey, added the extras from touch.
Barella had the chance to close the gap from 40 metres but was wide with the kick denying him his 100% kicking record.
Claffey looked to have scored under the posts but great defence prevented him from grounding the ball, quickly won ruck ball was moved wide and Barella with 2 on1 had no chance as Molyneux became the leagues top try scorer I ahead of our own Barella.
Birchall, Baseley and Harrity replaced West, Key and Justice with 10 minutes still to play and it had an immediate effect as the scrum regained its solidity, quickly moved ball by Brady to Storey and on to Barella gave him the chance to stretch his legs and he did that to superb effect comfortably “skinning” Molyneux and Stapleton to touch down and a conversion from wide out reduced the deficit to 7 points and set up a grand finale.
Then the red mist descended as Martin Brady completely out of character was dismissed for stamping and to make matters worse it gave Claffey another chance to score but again his kick came back from the posts, Lewis and Birchall counterattacked from our own line and with the help of the forwards we drove to the half way line and with Havant double marking our try scorer we lost the last chance to level the scores.
With game over our mistakes made a big contribution to this defeat and this lesson must be learnt before we take on Cinderford next week in the play offs for promotion to National league 3.
Camberley 24 (Tries: Penalty try, Hughes, Williamson. Con: Hughes 3. Pen: Hughes.)
London Nigerian 44 (Tries: Kidd 2, Olufunwa, Obuaya, Grant, Odediran, Shelling. Cons: Kidd 3. Pen: Kidd.)
Comprehensive win for London Nigerian at relegated Camberley running in seven tries. Four of them came in the first half as they built up a 25-3 lead. Jason Kidd got the first of the London Nigerian tries and scored the final one and in between kicking nine points with the boot for a 19 point haul.
Canterbury 17 (Try: Pratt. Pens: Pilcher 3, Pereira.)
Old Albanians 17 (Tries: Berendt, Barnes. Cons: Turner 2. Pen: Turnery)
Canterbury ended their season with a disappointing home draw against Old Albanians. The home side were first on the scoreboard when fly half Jose Pereira slotted over a penalty goal for a 3-0 lead and it stayed like that till half time.
In the second half three minutes in right wing Andy Pratt went over for a try and an 8-0 lead.
OA got off the mark a few minutes later with a Paul Turner penalty goal but two Sean Pilcher penalty goals saw the home side open up a 14-3 lead after 69 minutes. Inside the final ten minutes and the visitors went in for a try from full back Richard Berendt and Turner converted. They then got a second try on 76 minutes from replacement back Ben Barnes and when Turner converted they were three points ahead and not long left on the clock.
Pilcher did get a chance to snatch a draw and he did with a 79th minute penalty goal and honours were even.
Worthing 41 (Tries: Butler 2, Bruce 2, Cox, Dudley, Knowlton. Cons: French 3.)
Staines 10 (Tries: Weeks, Turner.)
Comfortable win for Worthing with a victory over Staines after a tight first half.
In the first 40 minutes the only score was a try from prop Raynn Bruce in the 15th minute and Nick French converted for 7-0.
Three tries in the first 14 minutes of the second half changed the match and the home side went into a winning 24-0 lead. No 8 Paul Cox got on the score sheet and Bruce got a second before centre Terry Butler went over and French converted.
Just after the hour mark Staines were off the mark when full back Michael Weeks went over for a try. Worthing though got a fifth on 68 minutes through fly half Ben Dudley and French added the conversion for 31-5.
Winger Jon Turner got a second try for the visitors but Worthing finished with two more for a comfortable win to end the season.
Thanet Wanderers 24 (Tries: .)
Harlow 13 (Try: .)
No information available.
Sutton & Epsom 10 (Tries: Daniels, Richens.)
Bishop’s Stortford 26 (Tries: Doyle, Collenso, Leeks, Hale. Cons: .)
Playing into a stiff breeze in the first half, Stortford more than held their own, with flanker, David Rose being stopped only inches short of the try line after a 60 metre dash, having seized on a handling mistake by one of the home centres ten minutes into the game. Sutton managed, however, to repel the attack and it was they that registered the first score on twenty five minutes with scrumhalf, James Daniels touching down after a good break by fly half, Sam Frost following a set scrum. The conversion kick was missed in the blustery wind, as were two penalties for the home side and one by Stortford. With the Stortford pack exerting pressure in the scrummage and the lineout working very well, the visitors controlled much of the possession and, by and large used it well to have the better of the territory, despite the headwind. After thirty two minutes one of several impressive driving mauls took Stortford into the Sutton 22 and when number eight, Alex Colenso burst free, second row, Adrian Doyle was on hand to drive over for a try close to the posts. Dave Gibson, reverting very effectively for this game to scrumhalf for the first time in quite a while, kicked the conversion to give the visitors a two point lead, which they took into the halftime break.
It was the home side that again made the first breakthrough of the second half when, after seven minutes a smart inside pass from Frost found left wing, Colin Richens at speed. The change of line saw him burst clear from forty metres out and after an arcing run, touch down wide out. It took Stortford some thirteen minutes to restore their narrow lead, when Colenso was driven over following a five metre lineout resulting from a penalty after Sutton had been forced to collapse another driving maul. With Stortford still enjoying the balance of possession, the home side nevertheless looked threatening on the counter attack until, after twenty six minutes a yellow card to their second row, Richard Nicholls for throwing a punch. Shortly after this Stortford brought on the fresh legs of Craig Hale (replacing Shane Leeks on the wing, who moved to centre to replace Dom Haysom) and Sam Prior (replacing Rose at number six, who moved to second row in place of Doyle). It took Hale only five minutes to make his mark, running in a good try after pressure on a Sutton scrum inside their 22 allowed flanker, Tom Stokely to recover possession. The ball moved quickly to fly half, Stuart Haslam, who drew the last defender and fed the winger with sufficient room to be able to go round close to the posts, making for an easy conversion by Gibson. The best, as far as the visitors as concerned was, however, yet to come. With the game nearly over and Sutton now restored to 15 men, Stortford took clean ball from a scrum on the opposition 22 and first drove it tight through Colenso and second row, Tom Butler before swinging it to the backs where Leeks exploited the overlap to dummy outside and sprint over for an excellent team try. Gibson duly kicked the conversion to seal the 26-10 victory. |
