Crushing victory over Civil Service
It took Grosvenor about ten minutes to shake off the rustiness of a four week lay-off before they cut loose against Civil Service and ran in a bagful of tries in both the first and second half periods. Their dominant set piece play gave them a steady stream of possession and which half-backs Parke and Rowntree used to devastating effect, bringing in crash runners to suck in the defenders and then spinning the ball wide to use the pace of the back three. In the forwards Peter Dawson, Fra Graham and Chris Culbert were prominent while Robin Coates, Mattly Little and Alain Douglas caught the eye in the backline.
The final score was 67-7 on a day when the vistors found the gap between Qualifying 2 and Qualifying 4 to be something of s stretch. Another good day at the office for Grosvenor who are beginning to build some confidence and momentum to take into the upcoming series of league matches.
Man-of-the-match – Peter Rowntree just pips his half-back partner Brendan Parke for the accolade this week. Peter has stepped up to the mark admirably and is maturing into a classy out-half with neat handling skills, a great boot and canny tactical awarness.
Famous victory over Ards
Grosvenor made the short journey to Shorts to take on defending champions Ards IV in the McCambley Cup. The opening 30 minutes were a tight affair as both teams settled their into the game and adjusted to the opposition. Chris Quinn went close for Grosvenor as he looked to have got the better of his man but was dragged down a few yards short. However a few minutes later in exactly the same position he rounded his man and offloaded to the supporting Rob Butler who ran in the try. Conversion missed as ball feel of the tee on approach and had to rush a drop attempt. Ards came straight back at Grosvenor and regained procession from the kick off. The Ards pack took the ball on round the fringes for a number of phases and then released the ball to the backs to find 2 centres up against a Grosvenor front row and they ran the ball in for a try under the posts. Half time score 5-7 to Ards.
Ards started the 2nd half brightly and had a lot of ball in the Grosvenor 22 but found it hard to break through the Grosvenor dogged defence. Grosvenor couldn’t turn over the ball and eventually gave a penalty away 5 metres out. The Ards 2nd prop took a quick tap, the Grosvenor defence expected a charge from the big man and grouped up tight to defend the line. The Ards player however threw a great pass infield to the big 2nd row who crashed over under the posts, taking the score to 5-14 in Ards favour after a successful conversion.
The Grosvenor packs superior fitness over their opponents then started to show as they started to take more control of the rucks and mauls. After a few rumbles from the Grosvenor pack midfield, Andy Kenny picked the ball up at the base and spotted a gap in the Ards defence making a great 40 yard dash. As the fullback approached he passed to supporting Smut who then passed onto the supporting Chris Quinn who ran in the try. 12-14. Ards lack of discipline at the break down was beginning to show and when with the resulting penalties the long boot of Johnny Greer put Grosvenor in some very good field positions. The Grosvenor line out was dominating at this stage and the Ards were struggling to cope with the Grosvenor maul, it was from such a maul Grosvenor took the lead as Ed Law went over for the try. 17-14 to Grosvenor. Following another great maul were Grosvenor marched the Ards pack back 15 yards the ball was released to the backs and following a blocked chip and chase, Ards regained the ball. Ards put the ball through the backs hands to their winger who ran in for the try from his own half. Conversion missed but Ards now 17-19 in the lead.
Grosvenor came back strong and now were developing good patterns of play and combined with the great kicking display from Johnny were putting the pressure on Ards. Ards conceded a penalty inside their 22 for collapsing the maul and Smut slotted over the penalty to regain the lead 21-19. Grosvenor continued to press Ards looking to increase the lead and Ards were attempting to run everything as the whistle drew near. Ards attempted to run the ball out of their own 22 but Chris Quinn read the play and intercepted to score and secure the victory for Grosvenor. Final score 28-19 to Grosvenor.
It was a great team performance by Grosvenor, with many individuals having their best game of the season so far. Very difficult to pick a man of the match this week as there was many great performances but here are a few. Johnny Greer – excellent kicking performance which secured great field positions for the team. Rob Butler, great counter attacking skills and took a great supporting line for his try. Chris Quinn, excellent reading of the game, strong in defence and always had the beating of his man. Connor Sinclair again great in defence, dominated the lineouts and great with ball in hand. Andy Kenny made a great break for the 2nd try and possibly his best lineout throwing performance to date. All above were close but man of match goes to Craig Steele as he must have had the highest tackle count on the field and was a real torn in the Ards pack as he contested everything at the breakdown, turning over ball frequently and forcing Ards to concede penalties.
IV XV Tries / highlights:
[youtube _omOUkLWyVM]
CLICK HERE for 59 Pictures
IV Coach Interview
[youtube S4f426OQ51Y]
Enjoy below some of the I XV tries + link to 22 pictures & a big thanks to Grosvenor for great rugby.
Click HERE for 22 action shots of the Grosvenor I XV
Grosvenor I XV Vid:
[youtube s6De3s4EsMI]
