Inst 2nd XV win 24-7 at Civil Service 1st XV
As always a lot of changes in terms of the team but with a great squad of players and good recent form, confidence was high as we formed up at Civil Service. Two new wingers had stepped up from the 3s to cover a catalogue of injuries at the top of the club and Prop Stephen Ferguson stepped up to play at six and Paddy Bell stepped away from his pack to line up in the centre.
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The match kicked off and straight away the Instonian pack did what they do and smashed the opposition backwards with great defence. Only five minutes in and we had started to dominate the match. Service were by no means weak just one lost scrum cost 50 metres in the early exchanges as they showed they were capable of putting together some good phases themselves. Intensity and pressure came as requested but this week the team showed that they had learned from training. Composure over the ball was evident with Nico and his forwards working in harmony. A couple of short phases and young Stephen Ferguson was unstoppable at close range and a good score was on the board – coach and manager pleased.
Rick McCarthy has been on super form with his boots and today was no different. The young Captain stepped up and curled one in like Beckham from the 15m line in a cheeky breeze – even he was impressed.
The following twenty minutes saw Service mount some good attacks from their scrum domination. Playing with 4 props and not a hooker in sight it was only to be expected that weaknesses could be exposed in our pack. The selectors had taken a gamble again by sticking to the same squad of players that where available so a rollercoaster barbarian style ride was always possible. However for every scrum that was lost or driven back there were plenty of snappy line outs, turnovers and forced errors. Nick McMurray had a tricky day at eight often having to pick up the pressure ball but to his credit he thrived on it. On more than occasion Nick smashed his way through two, three or four tackles (now counted out loud in the Epi style) to set up the platform for fast clean ball.
Just as the game was starting to look balanced half an hour in Nick McMurray did it again, pick up at the back near the 22 then smashed through the three defenders to score a super solo try, a healthy roar confirmed he has happy too. Another tough kick from wide for the captain and yes he did it again, 14-0 and all was well.
The team started believing and more importantly they lifted the tempo as asked and just two minutes later Service were in disarray on their own line surrounded by determined Instonians. A blunder in the in-goal area left the ball screaming out to be touched down and who should be there but Nick McMurray again for his second, bit easier this time. Rick “Patterson” McCarthy made it three crackers from three and 21-0.
Service had been sapped and looked well beaten but our failure to gather the restart and the gifting of three penalties in a row saw Service finally get some possession and forward movement which they capitalised on and got a well deserved score just before the half.
That phase of play gave Service a real lift and they fired themselves up at the half and came out snorting. No doubt that Service threw themselves at us and put together some good phases but the Instonian defence was solid and at times brutal. In fairness to Service it was probably unfair to use all of our fit flankers as their best move of the day saw Paddy Bell flatten the 10 once again – the same ten that was flattened in the first half by a stone cold stunner from Epi Ratu. Obviously Rab Brown was doing this all day as usual and with Stephen Ferguson showing many times it took three to slow him down the new found will was soon broken, again.
Composure demonstrated once again when great defence led to another penalty in the perfect position. The Captain changed the tempo and duly slotted while his forwards got their breath back to do it all over again.
Surprising that 30 men stayed on the park as long as they did, battle had most definitely been done but Service blinked first and went down to 14 just ten minutes from time. Again despite possession Service couldn’t get through the monster and got nothing out of the half. 24-7 was a well deserved solid win and keeps a perfect Conference record intact.
Man of the match again could go to a few and in reality the strengthening of this young team is the real benefit. The Captain definitely brought his golden boots and Rab lumberjack Brown is the beating heart of the pack, Stephen Ferguson smashed his way to be a respected six whilst Paddy Bell also earned respect at his new post – great lines and monster smashes. But for his best game in many and consistency in gathering the pressure ball and turning the back foot into the front foot (through their best player) on so many occasions it has to be Nick McMurray who owned the park today (possibly next game’s No. 12 now!).
Pretty much a perfect day from a Managers point of view, a solid win against a good opposition. Thanks as always to Wilbur Leacock and Rory Sheard for their support within the Management team.
Peter Steven
Team
1 Richard Troupe
2 Ross Mungavin
3 Jonathon Smith
4 Andrew Mairs
5 Gareth Shortttt
6 Stephen Ferguson
7 Rab Brown
8 Paddy “sledgehammer” Bell
9 Nico Andress
10 Richard McCarthy (C)
11 Ryan Karayiannis
12 Alex Peckham
13 Paddy Bell
14 Ali Irwin
15 Epi Ratu
