Longlevens RFC

Longlevens welcomed Derby Bucks to Longford Lane this week, looking for revenge as they are the only team that have beaten Longlevens this season. Each game we play against Derby it is a highly competitive game but always played within the spirit of the game and this game was no different.

In a stark contrast to the game back in November away at Derby, Longlevens started out the brighter team, with the forwards using the phase play that they have been working on in training. This lead to the space on the field for the backs to give the Derby defence some problems. After some good attacking play, Longlevens won a penalty on the 5 metre line. A tap penalty was taken by Jez Wilson, passed to Zack Fisher, who broke a tackle and went over for the first try of the game, conversion however was missed. The second try for Longlevens came shortly after. Derby were on the attack after a loose kick by Longlevens, however as the Derby centre was attempting to pass the ball to the winger, Connor Scantlebury tackled him leading to the pass to be intercepted by Zack, who ran in and scored his and the teams second of the day. Conversion was taken by Reece Joyner, who got the conversion with a bit of help from the post.

Derby did start to work there way into the game and was camped in Longlevens’ half for quite a while as Longlevens were unable to exit from their 22. However Joe Costello was a nuance at the lineout for Longlevens, getting multiple line out steals, despite only being his second game at flanker which helped break down the attacks by Derby. Longlevens finally managed to get the ball down the pitch after a penalty given away by Derby. After some good work off a lineout, the ball was spread out to the backs with Connor going over for Longlevens third try, conversion was not successful. Score was now 17-0. After the next kick off, a knock on lead to a scrum for Derby. This lead to Derby having good field position again but this time they made the pressure count when their scrum half went over and scored, conversion missed. This was the last play of the half so the half time score was 19-5 to Longlevens.

The second half kicked off, and Longlevens again started the brighter team and not long after the kick off, Shane Daley went over and scored Longlevens 4th try of the day, conversion missed, score was now 22-5 to Longlevens. After a few changes by both sides, the momentum of the game slightly dropped, however Tom Wilson for Derby, made a break down the left wing, speeding into the corner to score for Derby, conversion was also successful. Score was now 22-12. After this, Derby started to take control of the game, leading to Mikey Hawkes getting the ball, beating 2 men to go over and score, conversion was missed though, bringing Derby right back into the game with the score now 22-17. Longlevens started to work their way back into the game, and weren’t letting Derby out of their own half. The next try was scored by Longlevens, after some good work by the forwards, Jordan Rankinwoodhouse, used to pace to go on the outside to go and score. Conversion successful. Score was now 29-17. The next try was also scored by Longlevens after Ryan Ponting won the line out, which was knocked down to Kieren who passed to Zack who dummied the pass to Jordan Rankinwoodhouse, which drew the Derby defence, which gave space for Joe Costello to beat his man and go over for his first try for the club. Conversion was missed, but was a great effort by Paul Thomas. Score was now 34-17 to Longlevens.

In the last 10 minutes of the game, there was 4 tries scored, 2 by each team. The first was after a turnover by Derby, one of the Derby forwards picked the ball up at the bottom of the ruck, spotted a gap and ran through under the posts. Conversion scored, score was now 29-24. Longlevens scored the next try after a front ball at the lineout, Saul Cowley powered his way over to also score his first try for the club and also got the conversion. Derby got the next score after a maul in the middle of the pitch, leading for the Derby hooker, Ben Vickers, to break through and score, he also got his conversion. There was just enough time to take the kick off, in which George Stubbs caught, outpaced the Derby winger and went through to score under the posts. However George was celebrating before he put the ball down, and was being chased back so there was nearly a Freddie Burns moment against Toulouse, but George managed to get the ball down. Final score was 48-31 to Longlevens.

Man of the Match: This was a hard decision as everyone had a good game but Rhys Costello was voted man of the match for the second game in a row, for his tackling and every time he got the ball he was making yards and was hard for Derby to tackle so always lead to players doubling up to tackle him. Ben Gardiner and Joe Costello were also in the conversation for Man on the Match due to their performances.

Special mentions: Today was Luke Pegler’s 50th Cap for Longlevens Mixed Ability, congrats Luke for an amazing achievement. Special thanks also goes to Ally Donaldson, for stepping in last minute to referee the game and put in a great refereeing performance.

Thank you for Derby for a great game played in the spirit of the game but with that competitive edge also. Good luck for the rest of the season, and look forward to playing you next season. Up next for Longlevens is Westbury on Severn at home on 25th February which will provide a different challenge to other games that the boys have played but they will be up for the challenge.