Longlevens RFC

Longlevens seconds welcomed Minchinhampton RFC to Longford Lane for the midway match of the season. Longlevens went into the match undefeated and sat pretty at the top of the table. Minch have had a mixed bag of a season winning 3 and losing 3.
With a few players away, the super 2s were reinforced with younger and returning faces from previous years. A huge shout out to these lads as without which we would not have had a side.
There was a heavy wind down pitch and it was known, whoever played into the wind would struggle to get going. The plan was to play into the wind and hope our fitness would carry us through.
The game kicked off and Levens were under immediate pressure. The strong winds didn’t allow us to exit and we played almost the entire first half camped within our 22. A huge defensive effort kept the Minchinhampton attack at bay. A huge shout out to Harrison Walsh, Luca Parry, Peter Klien and Mike Bevan. Unfortunately, tired bodies led too lapses in concentration which allowed Minch to cross the line for two tries. Luckly, both scores were out wide and the conversions were missed. (0-10)
The half time talk was about how with the wind was behind us. It’ll make life easier to attack and with our previous record a few scores on the board will bring us momentum.
From the kick off the griffins got stuck straight into Minchinhampton and once the ball was recovered a few good phases of attack forced a penalty in front of the posts to Levens. Kicked by Zak Oliver (3-10)
Shortly after another Minchinhampton infringement allowed a second penalty kick at the posts from just a bit further back. (6-10)
With a foothold on the scoreboard, Longlevens seconds got going. Strong carries by Ryan Graham, Rakaseta, Matavutuka and Akulia drove inroads into the Minchinhampton half. Longlevens eventually broke the line down the left hand side and recycled quickly to allow debutant Zach Jones to score in the corner. (11-10) For the first time in the game we were leading and the confidence started to grow within the side.
Unfortunately, our lead was short lived as a wayward kick allowed the Minchinhampton back three to attack a broken defensive line. Eventually the ball was worked wide to allow a try in the corner. (11-15)
Levens heads didn’t drop. After joining us at half time, veteran hooker Mark Pope received the ball from a quick turnover. The ball was worked wide and Joe Rakaseta attacked up the wing making 30-40 meters. The last tackler brought him down but not before he offloaded to debutant Lewis Collins. Young Lewis sprinted clear to score from 40 meters out in the corner. (16-15.)
Seven minutes on the clock remained. After a few defensive sets, Popey managed to get himself yellow carded. Fortunately for Pope, the remaining lads put a huge shift in to close the game out. 16 – 15 in Levens favour.
Man of the Match went to Harrison Walsh. An excellent display in the backrow carrying hard and tackling anything that moved. Great efforts also by Lewis Collins, Pat De Klien and Michael Bevan.
Dick of the day had a couple contenders. It was almost decided early when after the referee called the nine, ten and front row for a chat he looked at our fly half Zak and said front row?
However, returning veteran Mark Pope had to get it. After picking a pint up in the bar he was quick to tell everyone (in his opinion) he hit every lineout, sured up the scrum and had a game winning intervention with his pass to Joe. What he forgot was his almost game losing tackle on a Minch player which resulted in the rest of the team putting in a huge shift to win the game. DOTD.
We now have a month break until the next league fixture.
At the halfway point a notable few stats;

Number of players – 51 !
Played every game – Z Oliver and M Yorke
Number of Tries – 40
Number of try scorers – 19
Top Try Scorer – M Yorke
Conversions – Z Oliver – 26
Penalties – Z Oliver – 3