Dubs vs Old Cliftonians (24/11/07)
A difficult game to report on due to the circumstances - what promised to be two fairly evenly matched sides on paper turned out to be academic as the game went to uncontested scrums and on that basis we have been awarded the league points. There is an appeal process so this may yet change but for now the technical victory stands although OC's actually outscored us in the second half to win the now irrelevant scoreline.
It was clear early on that the OC's scrum was going to struggle with the front row under pressure from the off and looking as ragged as their shirts. Early pressure saw us win good quality ball and threaten a few times without getting over the line. A couple of stupid infringements in our 22 then allowed OC's easy penalties to take the lead 0-6. Sustained pressure from the forwards then saw Ash go over to bring the scores back in line. Cliftonians scored well running on the angle to take it to 5-11and we countered with a pushover try which Warren controlled well at No.8 to drop on for the try, Darren converted to take it to 12-11.
Squeals from the front row are generally a bad sign and as a succession of props and hookers came and went the scrums were one-way traffic, culminating in farce when clearly inexperienced players were put into a possibly dangerous situation. OC's eventually called a halt and the game was abandoned under league rules and went to uncontested scrums. The game continued and with our main advantage nullified it actually turned the game, allowing OC's good possession for the first time and allowing them to run in a couple of good tries through sloppy first-up Dubs defence as we lost concentration. It's debatable what would have happened in a properly contested game but we will have to wait for the return fixture to find out.
A somewhat hollow victory and never a good way to take points but this was a league game and the rules stand. OC's can take credit for the spirit in which they played the game and perhaps the moral victory. Home and away matches prove their worth in this type of situation and hopefully we will have a full contest in the return game.
(Tanya is away so there are no photos this week)
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