1st XV match reports

National League Three South

London Scottish 54 Barking 10

Four tries from Stuart Peel were the highlight of a comfortable win for Scottish, who now move back to second in the table as the two sides immediately above both lost. With Mount's Bay unbeaten ahead of them, next week's game in Penzance will be crucial for the promotion ambitions of both sides.

In bright sunshine, on a perfect autumn day, Scottish sought redemption from the disappointing loss at Canterbury in their previous league outing. They opened a little shakily though, and Leo's seventh minute break might have produced a try but for smart work by Ross Yiend. However Barking soon gave the game away with a run of rash moments, beginning with skipper Batho's two off the ball tackles in quick succession earning him a yellow card, and giving Duncan Hayward a straightforward start to his afternoon's goal kicking.

Then Flannery could have followed his skipper into the bin but Mr Davies decided to punish his obstruction with no more than a further penalty, which Hayward also fired over. Inevitably gaps appeared before Batho's return, and Yiend and Cam Avery exploited one of these, before Peel ran the ball in from 15 metres. Hayward missed the kick but it was soon clear that this would not be a day when every goal would matter.

Batho returned but by now Scottish were forcing gaps all over the park, and a lovely 10-man move inspired by Avery and Rory Greenslade-Jones culminated in Anton Petzer's touchdown under the posts, which Hayward did convert.

Scottish then went off the boil for ten minutes. Andrew Fahey was penalised perhaps a little harshly for charging through a ruck when the ball did appear to have emerged into daylight, and Bryan kicked the visitors' first points.

Then Barking had the most fortunate of breaks when Eaton's rushed box kick on his own 10m line was charged down, but the ball bounced in his favour, and Ngan was able to gather and dash clear of the crowd. Perhaps lulled by the number 4 on Ngan's shirt, Scottish were slow to react, and by the time the chase was on, the speedy young second row was beyond being caught.

Bryan’s kick brought the gap down to eight points, but the visitors had no further chance to close it. Scottish indeed should have extended their lead on the stroke of half time but a combination of foul play and the clock frustrated them. First, though, Lee Soper looked to have scored when the Cornishman galloped up to support a terrific break by Peel and Greenslade-Jones, but as Soper touched down to roars of approval, the final pass was adjudged forward.

Then Mr Davies's watch denied them. An offside call enabled Peel to kick for the corner. The catch and drive was frustrated by a deliberate knock on, but when this was spotted, not only was the perpetrator not binned for preventing a try-scoring opportunity; the subsequent penalty was now deemed too close to half time for another lineout move, and so Hayward took - and missed - a pot at goal.

Perhaps this roused the Scots, for they opened the second half with a trio of superb tries to kill off the game and secure the bonus point as well.

First, Greenslade-Jones touched down 15m from the left hand post at the end of several phases where Scottish seemed able to pick and go at will.

Then Peel dotted down on almost the same spot following a move that began way back on the Scottish 22.

The play was a pleasure to watch now, with the ball being recycled at speed not least because Mr Davies was punishing any delay in releasing on the ground, so encouraging both sides to play at pace. But with an average age of 21, Barking by now were being thoroughly out-muscled and just could not cope with the power of the Scots driving play nor the quality of handling by forwards as well as backs.

Peel's hat-trick duly followed when a penalty to the corner and a clean lineout take led to Greenslade-Jones almost crossing by the posts, but while Barking anticipated and dealt with his dash for the line, they could not stop the recycled ball finding Peel clear out wide.

With Hayward converting the last two of these three tries, Scottish had all but doubled their score in nine minutes.

They eased off for spell, allowing the visitors some ball, but picked up the pace again to enable Peel to grab his fourth try on the hour, at the end of yet another flowing move that the visitors could not cope with.

Petzer got himself a second try, arriving to finish off another breakout from the Scots' 22, and Hayward converted that one.

Finally, a shove against the head gave the pack more go-forward ball. Without Peel's four tries to contend, with any of the front five could have taken the man of the match award. Indeed the back row was equally impressive all day, and from the ensuing defensive chaos, Matt Fitzgerald created the opportunity for Avery to finish off.

Paul McFarland

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