Buck Old Hands Win At Larne
Everyone talks about how young a squad Grosvenor have but on Saturday the Bucks went to Larne with JLB, Roly, Ally, Stevie Hughes and Bondy all of whom havent seen 30 for quite a few years. It was a gloriously sunny day at Larne and the somewhat makeshift side were looking forward to a feast of running rugby on a hard and fast surface. The Larne spy, Marty Gault, pointed out the strong points and weaknesses of the Larne side while their spectators had a good laugh at how fat he has become.
Larne got out of the traps quickest and looked likely to get an early score but the Bucks defence held and following a couple of breaks downfield the scoring was opened by Joel who scored under the posts. Somehow Smut conspired to miss the easiest conversion when one of the Larne players charged his kick down. The referee was becoming annoyed by the constant chattering from both teams and while the Bucks took heed of what Smut told them Larne continued to back chat and would soon suffer the consequences. Grosvenor scored 2 more tries before half time through Phil Cousins and Smut with one conversion. Larne added a try and penalty of their own but had a player yellow carded just before half time for continual back chat.
Despite being a player down Larne again started the half well and put a lot of pressure on Grosvenor adding a second try. They would later have a second man binned for back chat. Tthose who had watched the 3s play the week before were starting to worry about a repeat performance. However, the back row of Steele, Crawford and Steenson were constantly snaffling ball on the ground. The back line were performing tremendously despite the handicap of Bond and Brown and Joel added 2 further tries to complete his hat trick. Phil Cousins went on the most zig zagging run anyone can remember and eventually came up just short of the line having almost turned himself inside out. Larne added a further try and Bondy completed the scoring to leave the final score 34-20.
Andy Rooney deserves a mention for making his debut, Joel also for his hat trick and the auld hands of Brown, Coey, Walker and Hughes made their contributions despite their old age. Man of the match goes to Steeler for his work rate and commitment to the Grosvenor spirit. Dick of the Day goes to, you guessed it, Marty Gault for not even trying to catch a kick off because the sun was in his eyes allowing Larne to gather and score straight from the kick off.Clown!
League victory over Carrick
When these two teams met less than two weeks ago, two Grosvenor players were carted off injured (one hospitalised) following acts of foul play for which the perpetrators received yellow cards. Thankfully this week’s referee made it clear from the outset that he would not tolerate any rough-house tactics and the result was a cracking contest of free flowing play, with both sides concentrating on their rugby.
Carrick started strongest and should have scored after five minutes but their winger was ‘turtled’ by Matthew Fitzsimmons as he crossed the ine and could not ground the ball. Carrick knocked on from the ensuing scrum and Grosvenor cleared the danger. Grosvenor worked their way upfield and from a scrum fifteen metres out that man Fitzsimmons broke blind and ghosted through the defence for a super try. 5-0. Carrick continued to attack with their impressive No.8 making great ground and their forwards crashing up in the centre. But the Grosvenor defence held firm with centres Jamie White and Peter McKeown racking up double-figure tackle counts in the opening quarter alone. After twenty minutes Carrick kicked deep into the left hand corner where Grosvenor 1st XV debutant Dee Jackson gathered. He looked up, saw space and initiated a counter attack that saw the ball whipped crossfield to left winger Davy Egner, who skinned his opposite man on the outside, cleverly chipped over the onrushing defence, and gathered the bouncing ball before crashing over in the corner. Sensational stuff. Carrick were stunned and their coach delivered a rollicking under the posts as Fitzsimmons knocked over the touch-line conversion to make it 12-0. The pep talk worked and a fired up Carrick made a deep incursion into the right hand corner where only tenacious defending kept them out. From a catch-and-drive at a line-out ten metres out they got a rolling maul going and a score looked inevitable. But Captain Marvel Mark McAnally somehow stole the ball and burst out of the melee making fiften metres upfield before popping the ball basket ball style to the support runners. In a flash the ball was whipped right and Jim Neill deleivered a perfect pass to Dee Jackson who scorched in from fifty metres out. Conversion added 19-0. Another cracking try that demonstrated the skill and pace that Grosvenor has at their disposal in their backline. To their credit Carrick continued to attack but at crucial moments their passing let them down and there was no more scoring before half-time.
The second period started much the same as the first one ended with the visitors enjoying the lions share of possession but being rocked back by ferocious Grosvenor tacklers who felt they had a point to prove. Grosvenor added a penalty to stretch their lead to 22 points. Carrick eventually got the break-through with a converted try which brought them back into the game. Finally getting some reward for their efforts buoyed Carrick noticeably, however just as they looked like scoring another try Nicky Koch intercepted inside the Grosvenor twenty two and hoofed the ball downfield. With three defenders chasing back Carrick seemed to have the situation under control. But with twenty metres of ground to make up Davy Egner streaked passed them like an exocet missile, kicked ahead and won the chase for the touchdown. Perhaps being one of the players carted off in the previous fixture gave Davy the extra gas, but whatever the motivation this was a simply sensational score that effectively applied the coup de grace to Carrick and secured a winning bonus point for Grosvenor.
There were many big performances today for Grosvenor with Peter Dawson and Captain Marvel excelling in the engine room and the back row of Jonny Pedlow, Nicky Koch and Fra Graham all having blinders. In the backs Fitzy provided great ball for Patches who kicked intelligently and got the back-line moving, Jim Neill improves with every game and had a hand in two of the tries, but Man-of-the-match goes to Davy Egner who has now racked up 21 tries this season.
