Old Elizabethans 1st XV v St. Marys Old Boys RFC
1 March 2025

After 9 wins on the trot Es faced formidable opponent, St. Marys OB RFC, at home, to see if they could turn the number of consecutive wins into double figures! Marys sitting one place and 5 points above Es in the league table would no doubt give them a stern test. Es had lost earlier in the season 28-24 in an entertaining game so there was all to play for in this season’s rematch!

1st XV SQUAD: Jack Houlder, Fergus Blyth, Greg Foord, Adam Skyner, Tom Bendall, George Burnie, Liam Bailey, Will Tobin, Tom Cole, Monty Nash, Ollie Lunt, Alex Potts, Sam Brewer, Alex CS, Arthur Mills, Callum McCarthy, Matt Bailey, Wil Patterson

Match Report provided by Former Player and Former 1st XV Captain, Colin Williams.

MATCH REPORT:
Es kicked off attacking the far end of the ground away from the clubhouse. These early stages featured impressive driving forward play from Es with Tom Bendall very prominent. This was met by strong St Mary’s defence. Es were making all the play and a driving maul from a 5m line out saw them over the St Mary’s try line but penalised by the ref.

Es were applying a lot of pressure and, encouragingly, won a couple of early scrums looking very comfortable against heavier opponents. Some quick passing and good hands following one scrum saw Es headed for the corner. There was a try saving tackle by St Mary’s and the ball was knocked forward by Arthur Mills in the tackle. A relieving kick took St Mary’s into the Es half for the first time after 12 minutes.

St Mary’s backs then showed their attacking skills and they were thwarted by some good tackling from Es’ backs to prevent a try. Es conceded a penalty and this enabled St. Mary’s to get a 5m line out by the clubhouse. They won the line out and some quick slick passing saw their right wing go over for an unconverted try in the opposite corner (0-5).

At the time this felt as if it was against the run of play but it was a well taken score. Thankfully it didn’t take Es long to draw level. They displayed some slick passing of their own and got the ball to Ollie Lunt on the left wing who went over in that corner (5-5).

St. Mary’s backs continued to look dangerous and a thumping tackle from Arthur Mills prevented them scoring a second try in the same corner as their first. The ref called play back, however, and St. Mary’s were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which was duly kicked (5-8).

Es returned to the attack and St. Mary’s were yellow carded for stopping Es taking a quick tap and go penalty. Monty stepped up to kick at goal from about 30ms out. It was the sort of kick he has been regularly popping over this year but on this occasion the ball struck the post and St. Mary’s were able to clear. Es came again with a clever grubber kick from Alex Potts taking them into the St. Mary’s 22. Es regained possession and were awarded another penalty following a pumping leg drive forward from Will Tobin. St. Mary’s were awarded a second yellow card for the same offence of stopping a quick penalty which reduced them to 13 men. Monty kicked the penalty to bring the scores level again (8-8).

The St Mary’s outside centre gave us trouble most of the afternoon with his direct running. Almost straight after we had levelled the scores some direct St. Mary’s running coupled with a number of missed tackles saw St. Mary’s go over again for a converted try (8-15).

This was particularly disappointing as they only had 13 players on at that point. Play continued and Es were awarded another penalty about 40ms out. Monty stepped up to kick and hit the post again. When the ref blew for half time, the perception was that Es had had the majority of the play but had been unable to convert time in the red zone into points. However, there was only a 7 point difference and it was still anyone’s game. It was certainly a great game to watch – and very close

Half Time score (Old Elizabethans 8 – 15 St. Marys OB).

Wil Patterson came on for the second half in place of Tom Cole who had been playing well. Matt Bailey and Callum McCarthy also came on in the second half. It didn’t take Es long to close the 7 point gap. Within the first few minutes an interception by Alex CS just inside the St Mary’s half allowed him to run in a try from that distance. Although hotly pursued by a St Mary’s player he cleverly managed to swerve inside and touch down half way between corner and posts to allow an easier conversion for Monty who duly obliged (15-15).

Arthur came off following a knock and Tom Cole came back on to cover at full back. In a passage of attacking play St. Mary’s appeared to knock on and Es hoofed the ball down the pitch. The ref seemed to be playing advantage or maybe didn’t think the ball had gone forward. Whatever, St. Mary’s ran the ball back at Es and some more weak tackling enabled St. Marys to go over in the far corner for a try which was added to with a very good conversion (15-22).

Arthur came back on for Tom. It was a tit for tat scoring and it was Es turn to score. They duly obliged when some great support play and accurate passing enabled Alex CS to score his second try of the day which was unconverted (20-22).

Both teams had been playing good fast rugby and it had continued to be a very entertaining game. At this stage mistakes started to creep in. The St. Mary’s restart failed to go 10m and Es were awarded a scrum on the centre line. Any feeling that Es were in the ascendant was quickly dispelled by some good St. Mary’s scrummaging and Es were in trouble on this scrum and a couple that followed. George Burnie was then yellow carded for a high tackle. St. Mary’s opted to kick at goal from the resulting penalty and it was their turn to hit the post.

Playing with 14 men, Es were now put under the cosh and it wasn’t helped by what looked to be some aimless kicking out of defence. Es kicked long a number of times to the centre of the pitch and didn’t give themselves any hope in the chase. This allowed St. Mary’s to run back at Es and, with the help of some more missed tackles, they might have scored again if the ref had not judged there to have been a forward pass.

Alex CS deserves praise for a tackle made near the touchline after coming across the pitch from the other wing which probably saved a St. Mary’s score. Es survived the Burnie-less 10 minutes. The match continued to ebb and flow with both teams intent on attacking. Against the scoring pattern of the game, Es scored the next try following more great support play and inter passing between Ollie Lunt and Arthur Mills which saw the latter scoring under the posts for an “easy” conversion (27-22).

Es were now leading for the first time in the match and tails were up. They continued to threaten the St. Mary’s line and looked to be running in a further try following a Skyner dummy, break and pass to Ollie outside him but the ref who was some distance away (and behind) judged the pass to have been forward. Es came again and a great break by Sam Brewer almost lead to a score in the far corner. No matter, Es moved play back to the Clubhouse side where Skyner repeated his dummy, went through the gap, ignored his winger and fell over the line for a great unconverted score (32-22)

At this stage Es weren’t bothered about proximity to posts. The match seemed over, and most probably would have been if the ref had not judged Skyner’s pass to have been forward a few minutes earlier. There must only have been a few minutes left but St. Mary’s, to their credit, were not giving up. They attacked strongly again driving using their pack and then spreading the ball wide along the backs. They scored a converted try which brought them right back in the game (32-29).

Es kicked off and there was a passage of play where Es just couldn’t get the ball. There was an opportunity where Ollie Lunt had a difficult chance of a fingertip interception. He might have been clear had he succeeded – though some distance to go – but he could only knock on. St. Marys continued to attack and were rewarded with a last minute, and very kickable, penalty. It was now out of Es hands but it is easy to imagine that most players and spectators thought the game was headed for a draw. The Es were therefore delighted to see the ball curl to the left of the posts, the same posts that had taken a battering from earlier penalties from both team’s kickers. So, a great and hard fought victory for Es then and their tenth win on the trot.

It was a thrilling game with barely no let up and probably there’ll be some sore bodies. Three games remain - 2 of these are against the bottom 2 clubs and the last against Frampton Cotterell. We should be aiming for 5 points from each of the next 2 games but OEs mustn’t be too complacent about them. Meanwhile we have closed the 5 point gap with St. Mary’s to 2 points.

FINAL SCORE: Old Elizabethans 32 – 29 St. Mary’s Old Boys

Spectators Man of the Match: There was much debate after the game as to who the spectators’ MOM should be and a number of candidates were put forward. In truth every player in the squad could have been the MOM for the massive effort required to beat a team as good as St Mary’s. However, the vote came down to the wire between members of our “engine-room” and Tom Bendall got the vote by the smallest of margins over Adam Skyner. Tom may not have been named as much as Skyner in the report but he was very prominent in his driving play which got Es on the front foot throughout the afternoon and his massive defensive contribution.

SCORERS:
Tries: Ollie Lunt, Alex Copinger-Symes (2), Arthur Mills, Adam Skyner
Conversions: Monty Nash (2)
Penalties: Monty Nash

Full League Table and Fixture List below

Report by: Colin Williams

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