Longlevens RFC

It is not often that teams score over 100 points, but this Longlevens side have done it two seasons in a row now and the unlucky opponents this season were Chipping Sodbury.

The Griffins fielded a very strong side despite mounting injuries and unavailability, show the growing strength in depth of the squad. The conditions were perfect for running rugby and the team were eager to send a message to the rest of the league and mount a big score.

The first came after only three minutes following a penalty kick to the corner. A drive was stopped by Sodbury, but the following phases allowed a pick and go, and Tom Denby was on hand to power over, 0-7.

Frustratingly the penalties began to creep in and this allowed Sodbury to get on the score board following a kick of their own to the corner, this resulted in an unconverted try making the score 5-7, but thankfully this was to be the only time they troubled the Longlevens line, and the avalanche began.

Harry Atkinson was next over as he hit a good line following strong build up play by the forwards. Soon after Mike Yorke made a nice break down the middle only to be stopped short, the ball then finding Jack Cuthbert to go over, 5-19.

Atkinson was over again five minutes later after Tom Griffiths made a break followed by a kick through, shortly followed by Yorke two minutes later, 5-31.

The next score came almost directly from the kick off with Sodbury giving a penalty away. Quick thinking by James Butler enabled him to take a quick tap and sprint clear from the halfway line, adding the extras himself for his fourth conversion of a busy day, 5-38 after half an hour.

Mike Yorke was then over for his second following good phases and offloads, and then Jake Fox scored the first, and best of his four. He received a pass on the left in no space but managed to break three tackles and sprint clear from over halfway, 5-50.

There was still time for two more tries, this time from the forwards. Cam Jones hit a good line to go under the sticks, followed by a catch and drive effort from Steve Phillips, both converted by Butler, 5-64 at half time.

The challenge for The Griffins in the second half was to keep their foot on the gas, scoring was becoming easy, and it is at this time teams can go off the boil. To their credit the boys did just that and notched six more tries in the last 40. The first four were very similar and came in a 10-minute period where the ball was caught from the kick off and moved immediately left. The backs created space wide, and Jake Fox was on hand to run in three tries and Tom Barton one, making the score 5-92.

With 30 minutes still to go the target now became the ton. However, a period of poor decisions and dodgy handling meant it took until the last 10 minutes to achieve that. Henry York snuck over from a ruck to bring up the 99, before captain Jed Holman-Jones fittingly brought up the 100, tipping his bat to the pavilion, 5-104.

The score could have been much higher and credit to Chipping Sodbury for playing to the very end. This current Longlevens team love scoring tries and playing an expansive game, and they did that in spades on Saturday. Next week sees the first home game of the season as we welcome Midsomer Norton to Longford Lane in what will be a much sterner test.