Convincing rugby wins for Alcuin and James

February 2, 2012
Will Light

Alcuin produced an impressive performance against a much improved Vanbrugh, besting them 22-5.

Alcuin showed a cutting edge throughout the game that Vanbrugh failed to produce, but the defeated side have every right to feel pride at a performance against a team that had previously beaten them 40-0.

The early stages of the game generally saw Vanbrugh on top, as they had a try disallowed for a double movement.

However, Alcuin managed to score with their first attack of any real potency, a strong performance in the ruck allowing Henry Thompson to score, though it remained unconverted.

The second half brought an improved showing from Alcuin, with Vanbrugh repeatedly forced to repel their opponents on the line.

It seemed only a matter of time before a further Alcuin score, with Sonny Dewfall making the breakthrough at the end of a piece of running rugby.

The team in red soon scored their third after some excellent wing play allowed James Evans to squeeze home in the corner, despite Alcuin having only 14 men at this point.

The flow of the game was marred slightly by the number of sin bins seen on both sides, usually a rare sight in college rugby.
Vanbrugh finally made a deserved impact on the score-sheet, courtesy of Toby Dyke.

However, Alcuin managed to sneak in a final score before the final whistle, with probably the best try of the match.

Liam Habburn-Little danced through the opponent line before strolling the ball home.

Alcuin captain Muzzy Foley spoke to Nouse after the match: “I was really happy with the result, but it was far more difficult than expected. Vanbrugh had some top guys out there today.”

In the other game of the day James secured a convincing 33-14 victory over Goodricke in an entertaining match-up.

Using their superior forward strength, they suppressed the opposition, only allowing a couple of late tries to be conceded in the second half.

The Goodricke side played well though, showing a return to form and some real grit given their poor performances last term.

They exploited opportunities along the wings with some good runs, and even matched the bigger, heavier James scrum for the start of the game, but were eventually overpowered.

James opened aggressively, Anthony Matthews thundering through a gap in the Goodricke back line in the first ten minutes to score the first try.

Another followed from Tom Prifti, taking the score to 12-0, ignoring a promising Goodricke ruck that should have resulted in a try, but was disallowed.

After half time, the James forwards quickly shut down any hope of offensive play from their opponents, forcing them back in the rucks and winning nearly every scrum.

With stamina wearing thin on the Goodricke side, further James tries were delivered by Phil Clayton and the superb Matthew Collins, who worked fluidly on the wing, turning past two men to take the score line to 24-0.

A superlative run from substitute Phil Scott brought James’ domination to an impressive 33 points, off loading the ball at the last moment to Alex Muntis to avoid going into touch as the Goodricke team caught up with him.

James then sat back, game in hand, and lazily allowed Goodricke a couple of consolatory tries, the diminutive Alex McDonald smashing through the James backs to claim the first.

The game ended a fair 33-14, with James a man down.

James skipper Ben Brummitt said: “I was happy with the second half, despite letting in two soft tries.”

His Goodricke counterpart was equally pleased, considering his team’s vast improvement in performance: “We put on a good display, and it was great to get points on the board.”

One response below. Comments are open.

1. James Carney says:

   March 10, 2012 at 7:17 pm

   Whilst Alex McDonald may be ‘diminutive’, he packs one hell of a beard.

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