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OLD OTLIENSIANS 35 – MOSBOROUGH 29
‘Ensians took on their
unbeaten visitors from South Yorkshire with Johnny Ratahi taking over the
fly half berth. Making good use of their young speedy backs, the hosts ran
in four converted tries in the first 23 minutes and then the power of the
visitors’ pack began to tell as they responded with two tries before the
break. Against the wind in the second half the home side’s supply of ball
all but dried up as the pack tired against bigger opposition. With six
minutes remaining Mosborough got within one score to secure victory, but
the home defence held and they came out worthy winners at 35 – 29.
With a strong wind at their backs, it took ‘Ensians only three minutes for
half backs Ieuan Cranswick and Ratahi to get their back division underway
to give winger Declan Jackson space to outpace the cover to go over half
way out. Centres Nathan Rogers and Luke Cowdell were posing all sorts of
problems for the Mosborough defence and on 10 minutes Cowdell burst
through down the middle to score and excellent try. Conversions by full
back Will Foster gave the home side a 14 – 0 lead.
The home front row of Greg Jones, Ross Myers and Ben Copley struggled
against their heavier opponents, but just managed to hang on to their own
ball. At this stage, the back row of Sam Featherstone, Rob Arbuckle and
Tom Dyson turned over several balls and the backs made good use of the
possession by giving Jackson another opportunity to show his pace down the
wing for his second try on 20 minutes. This was followed up by another
enterprising back move which saw full back Foster join the line to go over
three minutes later. Two conversions by Foster stretched the lead to 28 –
0 on 23 minutes.
The visitors then realised that they could make progress through their
pack and they took play into the home 22. A hasty clearance kick was
charged down and re-cycled ball produced a try on 37 minutes. With their
tails up, Mosborough managed to get their backs moving and a chip ahead
eluded the home defence for another try in the corner. Although both
conversions failed, the score at the break was a less-comfortable 28 – 10
to the hosts.
Facing a stiff wind, ‘Ensians knew that they would have to pull out all
the stops and for the first 15 minutes their non-stop tackling kept
Mosborough out. The visitors were now in full command in the scrums,
taking several against the head and the pressure told when they scored an
unconverted try on 55 minutes. Josh Hebditch came on in the centre
allowing Cowdell to move to the wing. Ratahi got a move going in his own
half and when the ball reached Cowdell, he rounded his man to run 40 yards
for a vital try near the posts. Foster’s conversion gave the hosts a bit
more breathing space with the score at 35 – 15 on 58 minutes.
Still scenting victory, Mosborough attacked continuously and centres
Rogers and Hebditch were tackling non-stop with good support from flankers
Sam Featherstone and Tom Dyson. The visitors breached the tiring defence
twice on 68 and 74 minutes and touch-line conversions took the score to 35
– 29.
A nail-biting six minutes then followed with the home side conceding
several penalties as they desperately tried to stem the flow and stop the
rolling mauls. A final drive by the visitors was bundled into touch and
the final whistle went to the relief of the home team and their
supporters.
The plucky home pack was seriously outweighed and this took its toll as
the game progressed. With little or no possession in the second half,
‘Ensians produced a spirited performance to scrape through with a
well-deserved victory.
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Otliensians 2nd XV lost away in a “friendly” against Yarnbury 3rds 17 –
15, with tries by Tom Twist and a try and conversion by Lewis Chick.
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