Sat 21 Sep 2024, 15:00
Longlevens made the trip up to Oxfordshire on Saturday to play against Witney for possibly the first time in the club’s history.
On arrival it was clear the set up was good and it was a pleasant change from the usual grounds. Confidence was high due to last week’s win and the players were eager to get stuck into Witney and see what they were about.
It didn’t take long for Matt Smith to start where he left off last week and score the first of yet another hattrick. Longlevens moved the ball from touchline to touchline and stretched the Witney defence in such a way that Smith was able to latch onto a pass and manoeuvre between three defenders to go over, 0-7.
Shortly afterwards the Griffins were on the score sheet again when following a scrum Jake Fox was able to make good yards down the right. The ball was then worked back left for Kory Holman-Jones to power over, making the score 0-14 after only 10 minutes.
The next 10 minutes then set the tone for the rest of the game as it became very stop/start due to injuries. Longlevens were also guilty of giving penalties away that allowed Witney a foothold in the game. They replied by scoring a try of their own through a catch and drive and followed up with another moving the ball wide left, 14-14.
The griffins then began to do what they do best and moved the ball wider. The Witney defence was caught at sixes and sevens and Matt Smith found himself in the middle of a group of blue shirts. He bounced off two tackles and then pinballed his way through the rest to score under the posts, 14-21. This was followed very quickly by another score following good work by Jed Holman-Jones down the right. The ball was then recycled and moved right for Henry York to squeeze in, 14-28 at half time.
The second half started at a ferocious pace and Longlevens were off the mark very quickly. Witney cleared their lines but failed to make touch, allowing the ball to be fielded. James Butler made good yards up the middle and quick ball was secured moving left. Play was switch right and Ben Collier made a nice break before putting Fox away, 14-35.
With the game seemingly in the bag the game then began to mirror last week, but this time it was the opposition who came back into it with a bang. Over a 10-minute period Witney stunned the Griffins and scored three unanswered tries to bring the game to 35 a piece. Last week Longlevens did this to Chippenham and it shocked them to the point of collapse, but the Griffins are made of sterner stuff and reset themselves to score the all-important winning try. After smashing away at the Witney line with big runners the ball was eventually moved into the space and hattrick man Smith was able to run in to make it 35-40.
Witney had one last go to steal the game, but solid defence prevailed and Longlevens left Oxfordshire with all five points.
In this new league it is clear that teams won’t roll over and 80 minutes of hard work is required. The team should feel proud of achieving a bonus point win on the road and go away again next week looking to do the same.
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