Sat 20 Nov 2021
With only one mile, as the crow flies, separating the two Longlevens based clubs, this is about as local as it gets. Passions were running high even before the game kicked off, and anyone who has been associated with Longlevens RFC for a number of years knew the significance of this match.
The game kicked off at a frantic pace, with Levens moving through multiple phases, and moving the ball coast to coast. However, there wasn’t an end product, and two or three try scoring chances went begging. The pressure finally got to Richians after right minutes, when after a series of penalties, Brad Wilkins took a quick tap and sent Sam Hester over for the opening score, unconverted 5-0.
The next 20 minutes were mostly spent in the Richians half, but scoring opportunities continued to be missed. This did, however, visibly tire the Richians defence and the next score did eventually come. From a scrum on the right the ball was moved to the backs, who crashed up the middle, sucking in defenders. Quick ball was created and spun left for Hester to beat his man on the outside and go over for his second, converted 12-0 half time score.
With the dominance of possession and territory Levens knew the score should have been nearer 30, so they set about rectifying that in the second half. The first score came after only 10 minutes, off of the back of some heroic defence of their own line. Richians had pummelled the try line with phase after phase of pick and go rugby, but the Levens forwards help strong and were able to clear the lines. Richians made a mess of fielding the kick and good work in the middle of the pitch from Tom Denby and Jack Beck allowed Ollie Deacon to go over, much to the delight of his Dad, who I understand shed a tear. 19-0
Any hopes of keeping Richians to nil were dashed straight from the resulting kick off. The ball wasn’t caught cleanly and Richians managed to scramble possession and crash over, 19-5.
Longlevens responded well and kept the ball in the Richians 22 for long periods. From a series of dominant scrums on the left the ball was worked into midfield. From quick ball the backs were able to create space on the outside for Captain Jed Holman-Jones to outpace the defence and go over in the corner, 26-5.
The game was now out of sight for Richians and Levens were enjoying the lion’s share of possession. Ollie Deacon was able to go over for his second following a pick and go, and Peter Sykes finished the scoring on 80 minutes, going over after good work from Dan Gordon. Richians sandwiched a try of their own between these scores, making the final score 40-10.
Another good bonus point win, and it’s always good to beat your local rivals. There were definitely points left on the pitch, and improvements can always be made, but congratulations to all 18 players.
Next week sees us travel to Bristol Saracens for a crunch game, 2nd v 3rd.
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