League defeat by Ballyclare
Grosvenor started with a stiff breeze behind them but it was the vistors who enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory in the opening quarter.
Both sides were guilty of fairly scrappy play and basic mistakes and Ballyclare managed to punish Grosvenor with two early penalties. 6-0. Grosvenor’s influential second-row Peter Dawson then had to leave the field with what turned out to be a fractured cheekbone following an accidental clash of heads. After 25 minutes the Ballyclare No. 8 made a neat break from a scrum on half-way and made a deep incursion into the Grosvenor half. The ball was recycled quickly for a well taken try. Conversion added 13-0. With five minutes to go a scrambled Grosvenor defence on the try line just managed to prevent Ballyclare from extending their lead. Just before the break Grosvenor produced their first well executed move of the day when Peter McKeown crashed through the centre and off-loaded to Richy Henning to score under the posts. Conversion added 13-7.
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A rollicking at half-time from the coaching team had the desired effect for Grosvenor and they came out with all guns blazing, Nicky Koch scoring from the restart following a great run by Simon Fullerton Another try came from Fra Graham with Andrew McConville adding the extras for an 8 point lead. Grosvenor were dominant in the scrum but could not really put this to their advantage while their lines-out were distrupted through the loss of Peter Dawson.
Ballyclare fought back with a try and then followed a bizarre period of see-saw scoring with alternate tries from both sides aided and abetted by some fairly weak tackling and poor decision making. Grosvenor scored two more tries from Nicky Koch and Matty Litte but it was Ballyclare who finished on top 35-33. An exciting match for any neutrals watching with lots of tries and free flowoing rugby but nerve jangling and frustrating stuff for the coaching teams and supporters of both sides.
4s march on with victory over Quins/Collegians
The mighty Grosvenor 4th XV took to the field bouyed by two victories in their opening matches and a 100% record thus far this season. The sun shone at Stade Orangefield as they welcomed a very useful looking Harlequins/Collegians side that boasted several players with AIL experience.
Grosvenor began strongly playing towards the ‘Olde English Pavilion’ end with Stoopsy, Steeler and Darren Millar leading the forward charges. However it was young Wayne on the right wing who scored first finishing off some neat handling in the backs. Marc Brown hit a beautiful right-hand touchline conversion to add the extras. Quins came back strongly and scored a penalty and a converted try following some weak tackling in the Grosvenor ranks.
However in the second half Grosvenor scored two opportunist converted tries that took the wind out of the Quins sails and secured victory. The first came from a speculative chip by Phil Patterson which he chased and gathered before offloading to Jonny Greer who ran under the posts. The second was a Tommy Bowe-like intercept from Phil Egner who raced in from 75 metres out for a killer blow. Quins did manage a score towards the end but it was too little too late. The match ended with a humorous interlude when Marc Brown gathered a kick in his 22 and hared off down the field on a promising break only to be called back by the referee, who had heard a call for ‘mark’. A rather sheepish grin from a Quins player revealed that it was in fact him who had made the call!
Some great performances today and Jamie White just pips Johnny Greer and Phil Patterson for man-of-the-match. We also wish a speedy recovery to Steeler who left the field with an ankle injury and to Stoopsy with his back problem.
