18th October 2008 – Rd 3 EDF National Junior Vase
Rolls-Royce 17 – 13 Uttoxeter
Rolls-Royce progressed in to Round 4 of the EDF National Junior Vase with a 3 tries to 1 victory at home to Uttoxeter. The game was a lot closer than the try count suggests with 2 length of the field tries in the last 10 minutes securing victory for the home side.
With Royces missing 4 front-five players, Uttoxeter dominated the scrummage throughout the match and gained forward momentum almost immediately. A penalty in the opening few minutes was closely followed by a well taken try for the Uttoxeter winger. The Uttoxeter fly half put up a speculative up and under from deep within his own half with the winger collecting a fortuitous bounce near the half way line to sprint clear of the cover defence and touch down under the posts. The easy conversion making it RR 0 – 10 Uttox.
Royces hit back within 5 minutes with a try of their own. Whilst Uttoxeter argued with the referee, skipper Ranft took a quick tap penalty just outside the opposition 22 and battled his way towards the try line. Sensing that he would be tackled in to touch he went to ground 5 meters out with flanker Lee Nithsdale picking and driving over for the try near the corner flag, the missed conversion leaving RR trailing by 5 points going in to half time.
The 2nd half continued to be a competitive battle with Royces gaining parity up front and their backs becoming more and more dominant and threatening Uttoxeter right across the field. Rolls-Royce half backs Poole and McLaughlin got a strangle hold of the game and started to put the ball in to the right areas and keeping the bigger and slower Uttoxeter forwards on the back foot. Uttoxeter’s tactics resorted to loose kicking which was comfortably dealt with by Royces fullback Duncan Myres who made countless attacking runs through the away team defence. Uttoxeter struggled to make headway in to the Rolls-Royce 22 but converted a penalty from the 10m line to stretch their lead. RR 5 – 13 Uttox.
The pressure eventually told as Rolls-Royce turned the screw in the final quarter. Outstanding centre Lawrence Betty making space for himself on the outside of the Uttoxeter drift defence to run in a fabulous solo try from his own half. The missed conversion making it RR 10 – 13 Uttox.
With the bit between their teeth and determined to not let their impressive home record slip, Rolls-Royce were on the rampage again, running everything from all over the pitch in an attempt to clinch the winning score. A flowing move from one end of the pitch to the other was thwarted with a turn over in the Uttoxeter 22. Uttox then launched a counter attack of their own with backs and forwards combining in an impressive phase of play. With a Uttoxeter victory in sight and one foot in Rd 4 of the cup, Royces winger Chris Pelly made a last ditch tackle to bring down the Uttoxeter would be try scorer inches from the line. The spilled ball making it’s way in to RR hands and the relentless pace continued once more. With what seemed dozens of phases and every player in the team touching the ball, centre Betty crashed over from close range to start the celebrations of the home team. The last action of the match was the successful conversion by fly-half McLaughlin making the final score Rolls-Royce 17 – 13 Uttoxeter.
A hard fought victory against a bigger and more aggressive Uttoxeter team. Plenty of lessons to be learnt for Royces but also some positive attitude and never say die determination that will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.
Team: Myres (9 MoM), McNamara (8), Betty (9 MoM), Lowe (8), Pelly (8), McLaughlin (8), Poole (8), Ranft (7), Brown (7), Gormley (8), Lee (7), Sanderson (7), Noble (8), Nithsdale (8), Daigneault (8), Donohoe (8)