Longlevens RFC

Longlevens were involved in another thrilling Papa Johns cup encounter, winning a high scoring game at home to Swanage & Wareham.

Again, the Griffins were off to a flying start, scoring after only four minutes through Ben Collier. Good, fast approach play completely bamboozled the Swans defence and Collier was on hand to finish well in the corner, 5-0.

This set the tone for the game and Longlevens were attacking at will, utilising the shape and stitching together good phases. From close to the line a tap penalty was taken and the next to score was Steve Phillips from close range. The tails were now up and possession was being kept through quality phases and good handling skills. On 20 minutes the ball was moved well to the left with Tom Barton taking the ball at pace, showing a nice dummy, and feeding Mike Yorke to go over, 17-3, with Swanage managing a penalty.

Directly from the kick off the Griffins scored the best try of the match. Multiple phases and impressive yards from the 22 to the 5-metre line enabled a good platform to be set up. Dave Hughes took the ball in only to be held short, allowing Jack Cuthbert to take over and crash through, 24-3.

Swanage then came back into the game briefly and secured some possession in the Longlevens 22, however the Griffins were able to defend and clear their lines. Some good yards from the returning Matt Smith put them on the front foot and the ball was recycled quickly to the right for Jake Fox to scoot in, 29-3.

Swanage managed a score of their own just before half time making the score at the break, 29-8. The kicking conditions were difficult and the score perhaps felt a bit too close considering the domination Longlevens had shown.

The second half didn’t start too well and the advice to be tighter in defence wasn’t heeded, meaning Swanage scored the first try of the game after only one minute. Dave Edwards redressed the balance two minutes later with a well-executed catch and drive try, making it 34-13.

The wheels then threatened to fall as weak Longlevens tackling coupled with more inventive play from the Swans meant they scored two unanswered tries and brought the score to within nine points, 34-25.

There was a period of squeaky bum time before normal service was resumed through Matt Fatica. Some good build up play allowed a hole to appear for James Butler to sneak through and make a great break. The following ruck was recycled quickly and Fatica was on hand to power over, bringing more daylight between the scores, 41-25. This was followed up with a try from short range by captain, Dave Hughes, who finished a forwards pick and go session, 48-25.

Swanage, to their credit, didn’t give up and managed a final score to bring the result to 48-32.

This was another display of impressive attacking play coupled with some questionable defensive work. With the ball in hand there aren’t many teams better at this level, but 64 points conceded in two cup games tells a story and this will need to be addressed.

However, cup rugby is all about winning and the Griffins are certainly doing that, setting up a quarter final at home against league rivals Nailsea and Backwell. The draw for the semi-final venue has also been done and Longlevens will be at home once they have gotten over the sizable Nailsea hurdle.