Sat 26 Mar 2022
Longlevens entertained second placed Clifton on Saturday knowing a bonus point win would see them place one hand firmly on the league title. As Longlevens have never played in the league above this was arguably the biggest game in the club’s history since the Twickenham final of 2014.
Levens started the game well, applying pressure and forcing Clifton to concede penalties. This created opportunities to establish the set piece and a series of scrum and line outs ensued, enabling Levens to camp in the Clifton 22. From one such set piece the ball was worked wide very quickly, but was unfortunately read well by the Clifton full back who intercepted and ran the length of pitch for an unconverted try against the run of play, 0-5.
The team were unusually flat for such a big game and work rate wasn’t anywhere near where it should have been, however, after 20 minutes Levens did manage to get on the score sheet. Centre Sam Hester made a good break in midfield to get a foothold in the 22, with the forwards then able to string good phases together. Space was then found out wide for fellow centre Sam Oliver to go over for a converted try, 7-5.
A second try followed soon after following a dominant scrum, number 8 Matt Fatica scoring from the base to make the score 12-5, but the expected flood gates did not open, as more mistakes crept in. From a dropped pass in the Levens 22 Clifton were able to capitalise and score a second of their own, meaning the score was all square at 12 all at half time.
The first half performance simply wasn’t good enough and coach Luke Stratford made his feeling clear to the players, improvement was needed.
Directly from the kick off Levens began to put things right. The forwards made good hard yards up the middle to allow winger Mike Yorke space on the right. He beat his man on an outside arc and passed back inside to the supporting Tom Barton to sprint clear, 17-12.
The players were all now working hard and reaping the benefits. Following an attempted clearance kick Matt Smith fielded the ball and made a good break through the defence. He linked up well with Hester to send him over for a converted try, 24-12. This was followed up by a score for the forwards. Mike Yorke made more good ground down the right, only to be stopped short, the forwards then took over and Oliver Deacon crashed over for the fifth try of the day, 31-12.
The next score came soon after following great work by Captain Joe Weatheley. He broke tackles in the Levens 22 and made good yards before offloading to Yorke who used his pace to good effect. He drew the last man and Hester was on hand to outpace the covering defence to go over. 38-12.
To their credit Clifton were always looking to attack, and broke the line on a number of occasions. From this pressure they were able to score a third of their own through their left winger, converted well, 38-19.
Denying Clifton a try bonus was now the number one target, so the defence needed to tighten up. The boys dug in and didn’t let them through again and even managed two more of their own. Man of the match Matt Smith scored the next try, breaking three tackles down the middle of the park and sprinting clear to go under the posts, and the scoring was finished by the equally impressive Yorke, who was on the end of good work by Wilkins to make the final score 50-19.
This was a great result in the end following a good second half performance, meaning Longlevens need one more win next week away against Coney Hill to secure the league title.
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