4th  XV match reports

(Middlesex Merit Table)

1 Richard Campbell
2 Andrew Abercrombie
3 Reece Sullavan
4 Tim Footner        
5 Paul
6 Christopher Eliott Lockhart
7 Scotty Hauptfleisch
8 Graham Lind
9 Gareth Carter
10 Orrin Leighton
11 Dave O'Brien
12 Nigel Sinclair
13 Tim Phillips
14 Richard Lamb
15 Paul Shapiro

Sub Colin Tang
Sub Tim Hill
Sub Nick Harrison

Tries - Hyperflash & penalty try
Conversion Dave O'B
Penalty Dave O'B

(Middlesex Merit Table)

London New Zealand II 25 London Scottish Bs 3

Penalty - Dave O’Brien

Finding a squad this season has been difficult and this weekend was no different.  What with delayed recovery from injury, work, getting lost on the way and man flu, a complete squad bar a hooker and 3 reserves on Tuesday turned into 13 men (without a hooker and uncontested scrums) lining up against a keen London New Zealand side in Gunnersbury Park.  Within 2 minutes, this became 12 when Simon Sinclair split his nose open on the back of Ross McMilllan’s.  Vaughn Graham, a forward debuting after several years away from rugby soon found himself at centre and Tim Phillips stepped into the No.10 shirt.

From what should have started a rout, the team pulled together and started to run at the heart of the LNZ team and covered any attack that LNZ launched.  After 2 narrowly missed penalties, Scottish took the lead with the boot of Dave O’Brien.  Just as Andrew Aitken’s arrival from the office made it look like Scottish would make it up to 13 men on the pitch, Gavin limped off and James De Vick moved to the wing.  Scottish’s players forgot the numbers on their back and pressed forward again and only Scottish’s lack of throwing in experience prevented more points.  Towards half time, in a rare foray into the Scottish half, LNZ’s 15 men won a penalty, took the kick and were fortunate to go in level after a half that Scottish had doninated. 

With the wind against them, Scottish knew that the second half was going to be tough but continued to play with passion and pride.  LNZ had a man shown a yellow for some over zealous rucking and continued to struggle to break the Scottish defence.  15 minutes into the second half, they were awarded a penalty chance in front of the posts, which was converted to put LNZ into the lead for the first time in the match.  With Scottish tiring, LNZ then scored 3 quick tries, converting 2.  Scottish dug deep and found some last deep reserves and forced their way up the field and cross the line, only to be deemed to have been held up.

This was one of the finest Scottish displays that I have been involved with and bodes well for when the Bs have the full 15 on the pitch.

1. Rob Bolland, 2. Tim Footner, 3. Reece Sullavan, 4. James De Vick (Andrew Aitken) ,5. Ross McMillan, 6. Scott Hyperflash (), 7. 8. Vaughn Graham (Scotty Hyperflash) 9. Dave O’Brien, 10. Simon Sinclair (Tim Phillips), 11. 12. Tim Phillips (Vaughn Graham), 3. Nigel Sinclair, 14. Gavin Orr (James De Vick), 15. Oli Jack

(Middlesex Merit Table)

Match report from Doug at 15.

After an disjointed start to the season with the World Cup, London Scottish Bs got their first league victory of the season on Saturday with a well deserved, hard fought win over the Bank of England II team. LSFC started the game positively, with the forwards gaining the upper hand in the early exchanges and some initial forays by the backs. However, some casual play saw Bank of England take the lead after the ball was spilled in midfield and the ball was run in for a very soft try. A successful conversion saw the opposition go 7-0 up. Following a blunt appraisal of the performance by the team's sports psychologist Shaun Delaney, where the phrase "group lobotomy" was used more than once, LSFC improved as the half progressed. Much of the game was played in the forwards where Scottish became increasingly dominant both in the scrum, lineout and the maul. A converted try by the team's sports psychologist shortly before half time was deserved and ensured that Scottish changed halves all square and with much of the momentum.  
 
Despite conceding 3 points from a penalty kick early in the second half, Scottish maintained their improved level of performance and enjoyed the majority of possession and territory, utilising their superior pack and the crash ball from the backs. Following a sustained period of pressure, Bank of England were penalised in their own 22 and Dave O'Brien popped a well placed kick into touch, five metres from the opponents' try line. Following a clean catch at the line out by Tim Footner, the LSFC forwards drove the ball forward and Delaney scored a well worked try to take a 12-10 lead. Most of the game continued to be played in the Bank of England half and Josh Burbidge did well with his first touch to burst through a maul, set up from a Scottish throw, and bundle the ball over for Scottish's third try.  Despite not adding to the scoreline, Scottish remained competitive and compact and played out the remainder of the game fairly comfortably to win the game 17-10. The game was characterised by a hard fought battle up front, with the tight five earning their meal tickets, notably new boy Rob Bolland performance at loose head resulting in the referee threatening to force BofE to use uncontested scrums.

Tries - Delaney 2, Burbridge 1
Con - O'Brien

1          Rob Bolland

2            Andrew Abercrombie

3          Reece Sullavan

4          Tim Footner

5            Andrew Aitken

6          Ross McMillan

7          Scotty Hauptfleisch

8          Shaun Delaney

9          Dave O'Brien

10        Simon Sinclair

11        Tim Phillips

12        Rob White

13        Nigel Sinclair

14        Oliver Jack

15        Doug Campbell

Sub      Josh Burbridge

Sub      James de Vick

Sub      Tim

Sub      Gavin Orr