Old Elizabethans v Dursley
17th December 2022

In the lead up to Christmas this game looked very much in doubt after we had experienced the 4th coldest December spell on record since 1900 but the thaw started just in time. However, thanks where thanks are due, had it not been for the effort of our Chairman, Dom Swann, this game probably would have not taken place. So, thanks Dom for all you did.

1st XV SQUAD: Greg Foord, Matt Bailey, Colm Bourke, Adam Skyner, Rob Lee, Rhys Edwards, George Burnie, Will Tobin, Sam Hygate, Matt Carr, Pat Dore, Will Appleton, Alex Potts, Luke Jagger, Tobias Burden, Matt Hudson, Dom Swann, Joe Watkins

Old Es were sporting their new kit thanks to the sponsors 'Toyota' and Dan Wegrzyn for organising it.

The kick off was late due to the referee being late and maybe we should have complained but if we had, he may have decided to take it out on us on the pitch!!!

Es eventually kicked off facing away from the club at 14:22 hoping that they had learned the lesson of the two bad starts in the last two games, but alas this was not to be the case as, after a short spell of tactical kicking, Dursley took the lead involving their No.8 who for me was a threat throughout the match that we never seemed to negate and perhaps continually kicking the ball down his throat was not the best idea as time after time he ran it back at us making good ground every time and in this case their first unconverted try (0-5).

Es were looking a little lethargic and the scrum was moving backwards unlike previous weeks and so overall not a great start. The Es' lethargy manifested itself in a series of errors and then a comedy of errors saw Dursley somehow find their way through the Es' defence to score a converted try (0-12).

So all in all, another bad start by Es that needs to be addressed in my humble view! Yes, we could state that the referee was against us and awarded penalty after penalty to Dursley, some of which were totally inexplicable. Stating the obvious, Es needed to be the next team on the score sheet and indeed they slowly clawed their way back into the game first with a penalty kick from Sam Hygate and then immediately afterwards a good try from Luke Jagger and conversion from Sam Hygate (10-12).

Dursley then piled on the pressure again and put Es on the backfoot both in open and set play and were unlucky not to score a pushover scrum try. Their persistence paid off as their No.4 dived towards the line and rolled over the line to score (all in one move??) a try which again was converted (10-19).

Looking at my notes for the first half it reads of just one penalty after another awarded against us and then the referee strangely blew up for half time when clearly the ball had been kept in play by Pat Dore!

Half-Time score (10-19)

A good take under pressure from Matt Bailey from the restart, but initially at least this half started much the same as the first half with Es giving away possession and really making hard work of it for themselves. One bright light for Es was the performance of skipper George Burnie who single-handedly was trying to drag Es back into the game. It seemed to be to no avail though as Dursley took a bigger lead with a successful penalty kick (10-22).

Whilst Es can be and should be worried about how they start a game it has proven time and time again that they do finish each game strongly. Veteran Dom Swann was introduced at Fly-Half to settle the ship and a small light at the end of the tunnel appeared. At the 60-minute mark a good line out and drive by Es seemed to have been touched down by Matt Hudson but was ruled out by the referee. Surely, with a Dursley player being shown Yellow, this was Es' chance to haul themselves back into the game and indeed that was the way it was with a good drive from Skipper George Burnie giving Es 5 points unconverted - (15-22).

Fresh legs from Joe Watkins seemed to give Es a new lease of energy and as well as a try saving tackle from Luke Jagger kept Es in the game. Dursley were not finished as they continued to attack before Es relieved the pressure through a breakout from Burnie & Alex Potts. Greg Foord, Matt Bailey and Colm Bourke all had a good game fronting up to the Dursley front row. So were Es going to provide a late surprise as they built into the Dursley 22 and following a good move Will Appleton went over for a try about 10 metres left of the left upright. Sam Hygate stepped up for the conversion but his kick bumped into the post! (20-22)

The last move of the game from Es came about after being awarded a penalty on the halfway line and Es decided it was worth a punt for Luke Jagger to take the kick for the posts but unfortunately for Es the kick didn't quite have the legs.

A tough end to a hard game but in hindsight I think it would have been robbery for Es to have snatched the victory at the death from a well-disciplined Dursley team who deserved their win. As it is, Es had to settle for a losing bonus point which as a result of all other league fixtures being postponed kept them in 2nd place in the league for Christmas.

Conclusion: A brilliant first half to the season when at the start of the season we probably would have more than settled for 2nd place. But we have some tough fixtures ahead starting with the next fixture away to Frampton Cotterell RFC on Saturday 7th January (2pm ko) - C'mon Es.

FINAL SCORE: Old Elizabethans 20 – 22 Dursley

SCORERS:
Tries: Luke Jagger, George Burnie, Will Appleton
Conversions: Sam Hygate
Penalties: Sam Hygate

Man of the Match: George Burnie

Full Table and Fixture List below

Happy Christmas everyone
Report by: Paul “Blakey” Barrington

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