1st XV match reports |
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| January 28th 2006 |
London League Division One |
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Hayward's Heath 10 London Scottish 28 Scottish recorded a satisfactory win in not the best of conditions: a biting wind and heavy pitch negating the clear sunny skies; it was a case of “job done” to beat the sort of opponents Scottish not only can, but already have, slipped up against. However after last week’s 83-point romp, this was an altogether tougher day, not least because Mr James ruled both the scrum and the tackle area in often mysterious ways, disallowed two good scores, and blew up for a Scottish penalty as Rory Greenslade-Jones broke clear for another likely score. Lee Soper’s frustration got the better of him just past the midpoint, and he earned a yellow card for intemperately offering advice on how the line-out should run. In fact Mr James’s first disallowed try could have cost the home side. Josh Heke had scored early for Scottish, finishing off good work built on two lineout catch and drives, but the visitors by no means dominated the early exchanges, and Ashton opened the home side’s scoring with a penalty, closely followed by Tom Williams opening his own account in similar fashion. Then Heath were unlucky to be denied a score when, to to anyone well placed, it was clear the ball was grounded on the line, but at least no damage was done because later in the same passage of play ‘Otuhouma got the nod, when he skipped between Kim Vuadreu and Chris Webb to cross the line, Ashton adding the extra points. Scottish would probably have settled for an 8–10 deficit at half time, with the wind and slope in their favour to come. In fact they should have gone ahead just past the half hour when pressure earned a penalty and the offence earned Ure a ten minute break, but the attempted catch and drive move from the lineout went horribly wrong, Heath holding off both Magnus Macdonald and Vuadreu before gaining a turnover. In the end though, Scottish did turn round ahead, thanks to yet another devastating run from Matt Dowling. There seemed little on as Reggie Perkins fed him at the end of a speedy sequence of passes, and the former Waratah set off on a languid diagonal run fully 50m out, but suddenly he was away and gone through a gap Heath were sure they had not left open. After the interval Scottish really should have pulled away and notched 50. They were halted first by Soper’s unplanned rest, but once restored to 15, were hampered by contrary decisions. First Vuadreu broke for the line and though held up on it, popped the perfect pass for Perkins to flop over for his debut try; but as he got to his feet with the biggest of grins, Mr James was signalling a forward pass none of the 30 players had seen. Then he whistled Greenslade-Jones back for a penalty in the Scots favour, having initially played advantage it seemed, but calling the players back as the centre was eyeing the last defender while the support gathered either side. Scottish had therefore to settle for two sensible penalties from Williams, which nudged the margin towards safety, before a final try warmed the travelling support, a sublime pass from Greenslade-Jones requiring Vuadreu to accelerate and stretch, but he managed to gather with his fingertips and dashed to the line. Fortunately there are no bonus points in this league: the visitors had to be satisfied with three tries and heartened by phone calls from “home” announcing Richmond’s surprise one point defeat to Worthing. A word should also go to the hosts who welcomed the Scots with a piper and haggis to mark Burns’ Week; if as seems likely Scottish will be visiting this part of Sussex next year, they will look forward to the warmth of the welcome.. Paul McFarland London Scottish 15. Max Evans 14. Matt Dowling, 13. Chris Webb, 12 Josh Heke, 11. Kim Vuadreu, 10. Tom Williams 9. Darryn Bruce (Rory Greenslade-Jones 48 mins), 1. Matt Johnston, ©, 2. Paul Byford, 3. Magnus Macdonald (Jim Kelly 48), 4. Reggie Perkins (Simon Devane 58), 5. Lee Soper, 6. Alex Alesbrook, 7. James Street, 8. Karl Hensley (c)
Conditions: Sunny and cold, with stiff wind. Pitch stodgy Sussex clay |
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