1st XV 5 - 19 London Scottish
| Match date | Saturday November 28, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Match time | 15:00 |
| Match location | Away |
| Team | 1st XV |
| Opponent | London Scottish |
Player of the Match - Adam Sturdy
London Scottish 19 Stourbridge Saxons 5 by Paul Smith
The Athletic Ground’s lone piper clearly misplaced either his “Songs From the Movies” musical score, or his sense of humour during the course of this contest.
For if either remained, surely the final act of his two hour piping marathon would have greeted his team’s exit from the field with the theme from the Great Escape.
Beasted in the scrummage, blown away by the referee, and with a position no better than parity in any other aspect of the forward battle, Scottish defied every conventional result indicator, to finish with a 14 point victory that defined the word unconvincing.
Their victory owed everything to their Premiership half backs, and an outstanding back three, who combined pace with elusive running and footballing nous.
But, despite their lofty ambitions and substantial playing budget, based on this display, their pack has no prospect of competing with the likes of Exeter, Nottingham, Plymouth or Bedford in next season’s Championship.
Scottish have built a side in the mould of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle – a triumph for style over substance. Expect the signing of more top-class three quarters to follow shortly.
But this will be cold comfort for a Stourbridge side whose dominant forward performance produced no return.
Having matched National 1’s other full-time outfits, Esher and Cambridge, for an hour at Stourton Park in September, there can be no question that this performance raised the bar.
The front row was simply magnificent, from the moment it demolished Scottish’s first put-in, to the sequence of scrummage penalties won in injury time.
With the line-out also functioning smoothly, and Seb Pearson carrying strongly, forwards coach John White might even have allowed himself a moment of quiet satisfaction.
But Stour’s failure to convert three prolonged periods camped on the home line into points, plus a couple of crucial missed tackles, meant that their afternoon, in a league table context, was pointless.
Scottish’s electric right wing Charlie Broughton crossed twice in the opening 12 minutes, both tries coming from deep, following prolonged periods of Stourbridge pressure.
Flanker Tom Yellowlees played a crucial supporting role in the opener, while the second came direct from the Madejski - a fine break from former London Irish left wing David Howells being followed by a precise cross-kick from another former Irish star, fly half James Brown.
Jon Higgins missed a straightforward penalty chance, before a powerful break by Pearson created a simple run in for Craig Richards, who in the process went ahead of Ben Hughes at the top of Stour’s try scoring list.
The match’s key moment came shortly before the break, when Stour marched their trademark lineout drive 10 metres, before it was collapsed just short of the line by home no. 8 Willie Lipp.
Lipp was despatched to the sin bin, when, with a try seeming probable rather than possible, the referee could well have opted to go under the posts.
Despite several minutes of further close range pressure, Scottish’s line remained intact, as did their seven point half time lead.
An excellent home three quarter move produced a converted score for another former Wasp, full back Frankie Neale, soon after the interval.
But once early Scottish attempts to up the tempo faltered, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first 40 minutes.
Stour had two more prolonged-but-fruitless spells on the home line, during which Ben Barkley went closest, when he spilled the ball in the shadow of the posts.
At the other end, a Scottish breakaway saw Broughton denied his second hat-trick of the season by a tight forward pass call.
In the game’s dying moments, as Stour’s forwards pounded remorselessly at the line and the penalty count mounted to an incredible 20-3, the possibility of a penalty try award again surfaced.
But the referee opted instead to send Yellowlees to the cooler, where presumably his baseball mitt and leather jacket awaited.
London Scottish: Neale; Howells, McInroy, Trueman (Damant, 72), Broughton; Brown, Amor; Johnson (Culley, 62), Silvester (Ellis, 40), Fahey; Karonias, Palmer (Smith, 41); Volley, Yellowlees, Lipp.
Reps – Grant.
Stourbridge: Richards; T.Hughes (Chance, 75), Robinson, Barkley, Johnson; Higgins, Richardson; Sturdy, Gerry, Lawrence (J.Baker, 68); Hughes, Homer (Griffiths 27-36, 69); Rodley, Cooper, Pearson.
Reps – Keylock, S.Baker.
Referee – Paul Knowles
Yellow cards – Lipp (LS, 34), Yellowlees (LS, 80) – both technical
