Pythons Pulverise Students
The Pythons arrived in Coleraine for their 2nd round Forster Cup match, with conditions perfect for free flowing attacking rugby. Some late call ups to the 2s led to some tricky positional reshuffles, with Ben Morrison moving to 2nd row, and Andy Wilson fulfilling a long held dream of playing in the centre.
Grosvenor started quickly, playing with pace and precision and making great ground down field from the kick off. After some excellent footwork to draw the defence, Andy Wilson charged over for a score under the posts. The pythons continued to take advantage of a slow start from UUC with Smut going on a 50 yard solo run which ended with him forced in to touch 5 metres from the UUC line. Further pressure followed with Hendy and Ski both going close, before a opportunist interception brought a second Grosvenor try with the Coleraine students threatening to break out of their 22. Some missed kicks and knock-ons prevented the pythons from adding to their 1st half score, and late on UUC powered over a score from close range to leave the game in the balance at half time with Grosvenor leading 12-5
All the half time team talk was about raising the intensity and keeping focus and the Pythons started the 2nd half like a steam train, with the forwards providing a constant stream of quick ball. Two quick scores followed, one from the Grosvenor 10 and a 2nd for Andy Wilson after excellent continuity work. These trys seemed to knock the fight out of UUC and the Pythons continued to apply the pressure. A feature of the second half was the excellent work by the entire Grosvenor pack, hitting rucks with intensity and showing aggression in defence. Steven Beattie and Davey Wallace (with wife watching on) put in big shifts, and the backline profited accordingly, making a number of line breaks off excellent set moves and phase play. Further scores were added before the Wray-man, who had worked hard all day, galloped in for a score under the posts.
Thereafter came the game’s most memorable moment. Player/Coach/Alicadoo Mikey Morris had dropped deep to cover a UUC kick, and on catching the ball set off on a bullocking run towards the chasing defenders. For reasons unknown to his team mates he let out a mammoth roar as he charged at the defensive line. Windows shook, children cried, and the referee dived for cover. Needless to say, Mikey was felled by the 1st UUC player who got in his way.
The final score was 41-10 to Grosvenor, after an excellent 2nd half performance from 1-15. Man of the match this week is a tough call. The pack worked very hard, with Davey Wallace putting in his best performance of the season, including one charging run down the touchline which involved a Gilroy-esque sidestep of a UUC back. Andy Wilson had an excellent game at 12, showing all the skills required to make him a very effective centre. However this week the plaudits go to the Pythons out half who played flat and pulled the strings all day, scoring a few trys in the process.
Jug Watch: UUC hospitality was limited to jugs of orange juice and some ham sandwiches in the Students Union- no beer in sight, but it was appreciated none the less.
