1st XV match reports

National League Three South

London Scottish 58 North Walsham 10

This comprehensive win keeps Scottish tucked in second place behind Mount’s Bay. The bonus point for four tries was secured by the 34^th minute, and Scottish ran in a further five, but when they look at the table they will realise that by scoring only twice in the last half hour, they missed the chance to grab top spot on points difference. They trail by 14.

Scottish gave the Vikings no time to settle. The Norfolk side may have started this season shakily, but have always featured in the top half of this league; however as was clear from the on-field chat, by the time the Vikings realised the home side merited more respect, the game was won and lost.

Early pressure was turned immediately into points when Lee Cholewa popped over a third minute penalty, but the first try was not long coming. Pressure was producing errors from the Vikings and Scottish delivered quick ball from a midfield scrum to create an overlap and send Ross Yiend galloping away down the left.

The kick was too far out for Cholewa, but he and will Green – in for the injured Walbyoff – combined to put Piers Gregory into space and he in turn set up Charlie Broughton for the young winger’s second try of the season.

The Vikings had barely ventured beyond halfway, and when they finally did so de Jager wrecked a promising position by passing beyond McCallandy and into touch.

Worse was to follow for Vikings when a poor clearance kick went straight to Mark Douglas, and he ran the ball straight back for a 40m score, this time giving Cholewa’s the easiest of conversions.

The bonus point soon followed when Green and Duncan Hayward combined well through the middle. The now-dominant home side ran through two more phases to create the opening, and when it came, Anton Petzer came into the line and was able to power over without needing the men outside. Cholewa collected his second conversion.

Scottish continued to score at regular intervals. Alex Alesbrook collected a typical No 8 score off the back of a scrum, and then the forwards conjured up something special when Broughton earned a midfield penalty which Cholewa booted into the corner. Darrell Ball peeled off the back of the lineout and rolled away from the cover to slip the ball to Jon Pettemerides for an unstoppable run in. Cholewa converted both to make the half time score an impressive 41-0.

Scottish had made one change at half time: Douglas had shrugged off a heavy collision in the first half, but was now be replaced by Graeme Smith.

Vikings got on the scoreboard soon after the restart. Yiend managed to halt a break down the right but at the cost of a penalty, which was tapped quickly and McLintock crashed over in the corner. Scottish tried to respond immediately, but after Yiend and Gregory had combined down the left, Petzer couldn’t collect an awkward ball.

Soon after, the home side did restore the margin. Two minor scuffles came to nothing but may have strained the referee’s patience; within minutes the visitors’ Kelly was sin-binned for blocking illegally. Alesbrook opted for the scrum against the seven-man visitors’ pack, and from the shove, Ball got the credit for the score.

Scottish then went into quiet mode. Broughton made a rare error, dropping a pass to end a promising opening; then Yiend and Gregory seemed to have broken clear only for the referee to call them back for crossing. Stuart Peel meanwhile had replaced Cholewa, and his burst through the middle set up Yiend only for the cover to arrive in the nick of time.

It mattered not. Scottish were not to be denied the half century of points, and from the resulting lineout the ball was moved swiftly and Peel rolled through a tackle to score.  Hayward took over the kicking duties and duly obliged. But another chance disappeared when Pettemerides seemed certain to make the line when called back for a forward pass that  must have been a very tight call.

Next almost came a spectacular score. Broughton was in position when a Scots move broke down and the visitors kicked deep. The winger collected, tucked the ball under his arm and set off on a typically mazy run from one 22 to the other, only to be halted. His offload went astray but Alesbrook managed to grab the loose ball and break through what little cover remained.

The Vikings were not done, though, and Thorpe scored a fine try at the death after Howard, Kelly and Engelbrecht had taken the ball up from deep in their own 22.

All in all a satisfactory day, but there will be sterner tests to come.

Paul McFarland

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