Bonus point win over Omagh
Grosvenor hadn’t played in three weeks and their rustiness was evident in the opening quarter with some uncharacteristic errors being made in both attack and defence. Omagh took the lead from a penalty after Chris Culbert was rather harshly penalised while trying to crawl away from the back of a ruck. 0-3.
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Grosvenor started to get the upper hand up front and after thirty minutes scored a pushover try following a five metre scrum with Andrew Kelly dotting down. Matty Little added the conversion. 7-0. As half-time approached Grosvenor upped the intensity and following an excellent thirty metre run by Philip Stoops the ball was moved wide on the right and then left with Ben Coard darting through for an excellent try. Conversion missed HT 12-3.
Grosvenor maintained the momentum in the second half and Omagh were restricted to living off scraps of posession. Winger Mark Atkinson scorched up the wing and looked to have scored but the referee called it back for a forward pass. However Grosvenor were not to be denied and Jamie Meaklim scored a super try following neat handling in the backs. 17-3. Matty Little added a couple of penalties to stretch the lead and then conjured up a wonderful try for Jim Neill on the wing. Matty made a neat break on halfway and after side stepping what seemed like half the Omagh team found himself in space, he looked up and put in a pinpoint accurate crossfield kick which Jim gathered to dive over in the corner. Final score 30-3.
Not a vintage performance by Grosvenor but another victory and bonus point in the bag. There were some big performances in the pack this week with Philip Stoops, Phil Hill and Peirce Jamison all in the frame but scrum half Neil Adams gets the nod for an almost flawless performance.
Cat Watch – Physio Cat added a spot of glamour with a rather fetching shade of lavender nail varnish this week.
Bucks Win Again, Just!
Saturday saw the 4th XV face their longest away trip of the season to Armoy. When the players arrived at the Armoy ground they had to help some of the locals drive the sheep off the pitch. It was a bitter but dry day in North Antrim and the Grosenor warm up lacked a little enthusiasm but from the way the team started the first half you wouldnt have known.
The scrum was dominant, the lineouts were majestic, the rucking was hard, Jonny Greer was controlling the backline and the centres were bullocking. In fact the work of Alan Bloxham and Glen McCready in the first half had Armoy in tatters as they again and again made big yardage and kept the ball alive.
The first try came through Bloxy as he bulldozed his was over for a try, conversion missed. Smut took over kicking duties from Jonny Greer and added a penalty. A second try followed fairly quickly with Ross Reid touching down. Bloxy continued to rampage over the Armoy tacklers but his second try followed a little piece of trickery. He chipped the ball over the onrushing defence and gathered to score near the posts, conversion added.
Next came a score which many thought they would never see. George Baca, our intrepid Slovak popped up in support and dotted down next to the posts. This score was all the more remarkable for the fact that George had only agreed to play about 2 hours before kick off and it was probably the first time he had ever caught a pass in an actual rugby match!
Armoy got a consolation score to make the half time 27-5 and the game looked dead and buried with Armoy heads down and Grosvenor now thinking about a mammoth score.
Unfortunately the 2nd half was to unfold in an entirely different way. With Armoy struggling in scrums the referee began to penalise Grosvenor for every minor infraction. While his decisions were probably correct it did feel as though he was ‘evening things up’. Armoy took advantage of this to score 2 penalties and while the score was still a comfortable 27-11 it did feel as if the tide was turning. Armoy went on to add a converted try to bring the score to 27-18 and with some time left on the clock the pressure was really on.
Grosvenor found little or no patterns or rhythm in the second period and had Armoy possessed just a little more quality the game may well have slipped out of the grasp. The Armoy number 2, by the name of Samoa, was becoming a serious threat to Grosvenor. Armoy added a further score, with the conversion missed to bring the score to 27-23 and luckily the referee decided to blow the final whislte. Had there been any time left on the clock there may have been some panic in the Grosvenor ranks.
At the end of the game Grosvenor trudged off the park with the heads hanging, the atmosphere in the dressing room was one of disappointment and possibly a little embarrassment. But as the saying goes ‘A wins, a win’.
Moment of the match came when a Grosvenor player squared up to the Armoy scrum half. Jar shout onto the field ‘Dont hit him, he must be 50!’ The swift reply from Armoy being ‘No he’s not, he’s 60!’
Man of the match goes to Bloxy who muscled his way about the park all day and was rewarded with 2 scores, maybe should have been 3. Did he know he would have to buy beer?
Armoy hospitality was great after the match with a big feed of a cowboy supper.
