UCSOB 2nd XV vs Epping Upper Clapton 2nd XV
UCS Old Boys (15) v Epping Upper Clapton (22)
UCS 3 tries (Ike Mbali, Will Jones, Paul Dillon), no conversions.
Epping 3 tries, 2 conversions and 1 penalty
UCS started the game at the bottom of the hill facing a tough challenge to defend against a team who’d won their last four. The UCS team made up of new and old faces hoped to gel quickly and get on the score sheet. Unfortunately UCS were slow out of the blocks defensively and difficulty in the line-out saw Epping break from their own 22 to score a try. 0 – 5.
With a huge weight difference and an uphill gradient the forward pack worked really hard to secure defensive ball at scrum time. With a front row of Tom Cove, ‘Man of the Match’ Ethan Summers and Dave Cohen (who’d never all played together before) they survived the onslaught of pressure coming from the much heavier pack of Epping, only losing 2 against the head. These 3 covered the entire pitch, getting to every breakdown and supporting the team in the loose. Mr Cohen found himself some space in the midfield a few times and carried hard.
Supported by marauders of the field in Manoj Bahl and Tim Sydor, these 2 second rows stood head and shoulder above the rest (literally), carrying the ball like wrecking balls and wreaking havoc at the breakdowns. The Back Row saw the much awaited return of Alex Jayne and the ever consistent Jack Boulden on the flanks, supported by ‘Man of the 1st half’ Tom Sanders who cleaned up every ball at the bottom of the scrums and ran hard and usually looping lines in open space.
The forwards were supported by a half back pairing of Jonny Gunning at scrum half and on UCS Old boys debut, head boy Joe Alpert, who graced the field at fly half as you’d expect, running and carrying with confidence and a boot to match. Joe and Jonny had fantastic games. Outside these two were McAteer and Bromley who’ve been waiting to be paired in the centres all season and were finally able to grace the field in their preferred positions, worked hard in both attack and defence, hopefully a pairing that can be continued.
The back 3 was made up of the iconic Ike Mbali on his try-scoring return (would have been more bar a quite serious injury, wishing him well), the ever learning Owen Lewis and the brilliant Joe Warren who covered the back field with pace and guile (who again unfortunately got injured).
In attack UCS always looked dangerous, carried well, and had multiple opportunities in the opponents 22. UCS were always breaking the Epping line from deep in their own 22, Tim Sydor cut through them as they were no match for his powerful running, unfortunately the steep hill and his decision making were enough of a match as he tried a delicate chip forward more fitting Cipriani then the man himself which he never recovered.
UCS worked hard at the breakdowns and continued to win well-earned penalties off Epping, working their way to the corner with great kicking from Alpert. A quick tap penalty and a strong run from the backs into the corner led to great forward play which sucked in Epping on the left hand side of the field leading to a huge overlap on the right and through Jonny Gunning and Joe Alpert, UCS were able to spin the ball wide to Ike Mbali for a straight run in to score.
Epping came back hard and drove us into our 22 through continued pressure at scrums, strong defence unfortunately succumbed after long pressure for Epping to score a 2nd try and conversion – 12 – 5 at half time with all to play for with UCS going down the hill in the second half.
In the second half, UCS made some changes with Matt Jacobs (Jonny Gunning), Bennie Nze (Tom Cove) and Will Jones (Tom Sanders) joining the field. Gabe and Jack, our Australian Gap Year players, also replaced Ike and Joe Warren who both suffered injuries.
Gabe and Jack playing only their 2nd game of rugby and looking like real rugby players already, Gabe with a tackle harder than most and Jack with quick enough feet to dance by defenders.
The introduction of Jacobs saw the game management improve as he dictated his forwards with all the previous experience of a UCS Old Boys Captain. Bennie Nze tightened up the scrums partnering Cohen and Ethan providing a stronger platform for Jacobs and Will Jones as the back of the scrum. Will Jones threw the most dummies a man can do in 40 minutes, and unbelievably every single one was bought by the opposition.
Unfortunately Jacobs first impact was by dropping a ball off the lineout gifting Epping a scrum in our half, from the ensuing play Epping managed to work up to UCS’s try line, and only through the sheer will, was Ethan (weighing approximately 65kg) able to hold up Epping’s huge front row (weighing approximately 140kg) over the line, preventing a certain try.
Unfortunately from the following Epping scrum and phase play Epping were able to break through a hole in UCS’s blindside defence. 5 – 19. From the resulting incomplete kick-off and solid scrum Epping managed to get a penalty within kicking range and slotted it over to earn them 3 extra points. 5 – 22.
A further injury to Owen Lewis, saw the return of Connal for his 2nd game for UCS Old Boys game, slotting into full back with no prior experience of playing there. Connal carried with ferocity from deep returning all of Epping’s clearances.
UCS marched back up the field intent on dominating possession, UCS continued pressure up the field but Epping played tactically well and utilised their huge clearing kick to relieve pressure when USC made any mistakes in Epping’s 22.
Tenacious defence from Jacobs saw UCS steal the ball back, and from the base of the breakdown Jacobs made yardage up the field before a nice offload to McAteer, who unfortunately carried for 20 yards only to have the ball knocked out of his hands as he went for the offload.
UCS knew they needed a perfect succession of phase play to score, and boy did it come. According to one on-looker a continuous play of around 30 phases (although this was Dillon and he can’t count over 10 with his socks on) working from left to right, back to left and back to right to score in the corner was one of sheer class. Hard running and rucking from forwards and backs across the field allowed UCS to dominate the collision and march down the field without any spillage, slowly space began to open in the fringes as Epping couldn’t handle UCS’s variety in attack and Will Jones managed to scythe through a gap in the right corner to bring UCS back into the game. 10 – 22.
UCS knew there were in this game and knew they could score again, solid phase play again saw UCS get back into Epping’s 22. UCS seemed to camp there for 5 minutes but couldn’t break them down.
On came Paul ‘Bastareaud’ Dillon at Inside Centre, who made an immediate impact, again good forward and back phase play lead UCS to within touching distance of the line, a missile line from Dillon, fed beautifully by Jacobs, saw Dillon come crashing down over the line. Unfortunately Dillon couldn’t make the conversion, close but not close enough. 15 – 22.
Game on. UCS continued to dominate the ball but couldn’t break down Epping one more time. Rampaging runs from Chris Stickles on his return from deep within our 22, worked UCS up to the half way, great back play saw our mercurial 10, Joe Alpert, on an outside sweep, unfortunately (illegally?) scythed down by Epping. The resulting penalty left UCS with one last opportunity to attack, Tim Sydor took the ball at a monstrous pace driving Epping back into their 22, unfortunately this was too fast for his support to get there and he was wrapped up into a maul that always looked lost. The maul came down, the referee pointed to Epping.
A game fully enjoyed by everyone, players, fans and opposition. Thank you to Chris Harris for coaching the team, setting us up to be ready. Thank you to Adam Hirschovits who was ready and awaiting to get on if anyone else got injured.