Longlevens RFC

Longlevens left a sunny and dry Gloucester this Saturday to arrive at a wet, gloomy and foggy Old Bristolians ground for this Counties 1 league match.

Last week had seen the Griffins see off nearest rivals Nailsea to put them firmly in first place, so it was important to back that up with a win. It can often be hard to follow up a big win so the team knew that a bonus point victory of any score would do to take them into the long break on a high. Preparation was hampered somewhat by Luca Parry getting injured during the warm up, luckily ex captain Jake Kitson had come to watch and is still registered, so he jumped onto the bench, which he was very pleased about!

Conditions were difficult and things didn’t initially gel for the griffins. Old Bs were off the mark first with a penalty and they had a lions share of possession, and it took a piece of individual skill and determination from Jake Fox to start the scoring.

He took a pass on the half way line and set off at pace, cutting inside and seemingly into the Old Bs traffic. However, he managed to pin ball himself off of three defenders and slip free to go over for a great score, 3-7.

There then followed 20 minutes of pretty poor rugby from both sides before another score was created. A series of penalties were awarded to the Griffins which were driven towards the line but without getting the important touch down. From the next one a scrum was taken instead and number 8 Steve Philips picked from the base and linked with scrum half, James Butler. Butler made good yards before feeding back to Philips to power over, 3-12. The half was finished by Old Bs with a penalty to go in 6-12 up.

The half time talk centred around going back to the plan and not panicking, however the half didn’t start very well. Some poor tackling in midfield allowed Old Bs to make good metres and they went wide from the subsequent phases to score in the corner, 11-12.

Thankfully the Griffins then switched on and for the next 35 minutes put in a very good performance. Their set piece began to click and they got rewards from a driving lineout when Mark Hancock drove over for a score, 11-17. This was followed soon after with a bonus point score from Tom Griffiths who took the ball at first receiver and used his size and strength to wrestle over making the score a more comfortable 11-24.

Two more scores put the icing on the cake for Longlevens, the first of these was a penalty try following good work by the forwards near the line and the last score came from super sub, Jake Kitson, who capped a fine surprise performance with a push over try. Old Bs did managed a consolation at the death to make the final score 18-38 to the Griffins.

Whilst this wasn’t a perfect performance and not near the levels of last week, enough was done to secure the bonus point win. Old Bs at home are a tough side and don’t roll over, so job done.

There was also the welcome news that nearest challengers Nailsea had lost to Midsomer Norton meaning the title is well and truly in our hands.

The next scheduled game is at home to Barton Hill; however, it is unclear if they are still in the league so there could be an enforced break to rest up and prepare for the next big challenge away to Old Reds.