Clee Hill 34 – 3 Old Wheatleyans
The day got off to an amusing start when forward James McShane was roused from slumber by a 49 seater coach reversing up his driveway to collect him after he failed to answer phone calls attempting to discover his whereabouts. James looked delighted to see the lads, and was all smiles as he climbed aboard the coach, not reeking of booze.
After a brief TWO AND A HALF HOUR journey to the ground, located atop a mountain, Wheats were probably feeling a little fuzzy. From the off it quickly became apparent that it was going to be a tough day up front for Old Wheats, as they struggled against a powerful Clee front five, who made life very hard in the scrum and mauls, starving OWs backs of any ball. There wasn’t much that could be done to stop the initial try for the home side, after initially being held up over the line, Clee surged back to get the try at the second attempt. The conversion was missed.
Following the re-start Wheats worked their way back up the park, and earned a penalty as Clee attempted to claw back the ball illegally on the deck. Webby duly kicked the 3 points.
The balance of play was fairly even for the following ten minutes. Although the Clee pack continued to exert pressure on a fragile Wheats scrum, Dean Bryant managed to salvage some ball for the backs, and Mark McKenzie led the charge for the forwards in the loose, where Wheats were a lot more competitive. Wheats could have been over in the corner following a sweeping move across the line to Rubes, who elected to make the cheeky-chip ahead, but had to make do with a scrum 5 as the defender narrowly beat him to the ball to carry over and touch back.
From here on out Clee closed the game down through their pack, and it was difficult to see how Wheats might find a way back following a penalty try awarded to Clee for collapsing a scrum. This was followed by what seemed a harsh decision against Brad Atkins for a forward pass when he was put away down the Wheats’ left flank late in the first half. Clee Piled it on, and Wheats lost front row Andy Hibberd to an ankle injury shortly after. Half time couldn’t come quick enough to stop a third Clee converted try, making the task that much harder for the second 40 minutes.
Half time 17 – 3
The second half gave Old Wheatleyans the advantage of the slope and the breeze, and whilst the scrum was under pressure, the line out was outstanding by comparison. Shortly after the break Clee had given up competing on OWs line outs, meaning we had at least some sort of share of the ball. Wheats enjoyed a short revivial following the break, defending well with some big tackles from McKenzie at number 8 - who did a fantastic job under the pressure at the back of the scrum, and some brave work in the rucks from second row John Betts.
It wasn’t enough to set up the try Wheats desperately needed though, despite questions posed by centre partners Chris Gardner and Andy Lewis, and a tricky Matt Brown. As the half wore on Clee began to re-assert themselves, and put the game beyond doubt midway through the second half with a breakaway try.
A deflated Wheats side battled on but there was no way back into the tie from there on.
MOTM: 8. Mark McKenzie
1. Andy Hibberd (Scan 34), 2. Adam Mason, 3. Murph, 4. John Betts (Simon Hodgkiss 78) 5. James McShane, 6. Gillam, 7. AB, 8. Macca, 9. Dean Bryant, 10. Brad Atkins, 11. Browny, 12. Chris Gardner, 13. Andy Lewis, 14. Marc Ruberry, 15. Ian Webster
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