Longlevens RFC

Longlevens travelled to Bath on Saturday for a Papa John's cup second round match against Combe Down. The opposition were completely unknown as the two clubs hadn't met for 23 years, but this being cup rugby, the players were eager to find out.

It soon become apparent that the Griffins were the more powerful side and this was evidenced by the first try when Dave Edwards finished off a catch and drive lineout, followed shortly afterwards by fellow front rower Josh Stratton in a similar move 3-12, Combe down having slotted a penalty.

The backs were keen to get in on the act and following some hard yards up the middle debutant Jaiden Vance showed what he can do with a sprint to the corner, 3-19.

Next up was Joe Weatherley who benefitted from a great break by Jed Holman-Jones. After some nice offloads Weatherley received a pass and showed good pace to go over, this was followed by a try for Ben Collier who was on hand to gather a nice chip forward from Henry York, 3-31.

The half finished the way it began with a catch and drive set up and scored by Stratton, half time score 3-38.

Longlevens are involved in four cup runs, with all three sides still in the Combination, so changes were made to rest key players. This disrupted the flow for 20 minutes but normal service was resumed on the hour.

Matt Fatica finished off some good offload phases followed by a penalty try for a deliberate knock on, 3-50. Winger Vance then scored his second wide right after the backs had moved the ball well, capping a fine debut, 3-55.

Brad Wilkins' normally excellent boot was having an off day, not used to kicking a different brand of ball, or so he said. He did however score an excellent try, sprinting clear up the right. The final score came from Henry York, gathering a cross field kick to make the final score 3-67.

Games are coming thick and fast now with all three sides having Combination cup games this week, starting with the first team away at Coney Hill in the semis, a win taking them to Kingsholm.