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Sat 05 Oct 2019 · Merit Table 4 NE
2nd XVLetchworth 3
34
41
Starting Well...
Alex Thomas10 Oct 2019 - 11:34
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By John Portsmouth
On a chilly but sunny October day, the mighty Finsbury Park second XV returned to fortress Downhills to take on old rivals Letchworth Rugby Club. Looking to emulate the earlier success of the national team, the Fins warmed up well, silkily slinging the ball about in a manner which was likely to strike fear into the hearts of the onlooking opposition.
Kick-off…and the Fins wasted no time putting their warm-up form into action. A cleanly taken early line-out was spun out to newly reinstated fly-half James Pattison who worked a lovely cut back move to send debutant Lloyd Hughes scything through the defence to touch down under the sticks for the first try only one minute into the match. Despite showing great dexterity in his passing, Pattison was unable to add the extras with the boot. 5-0 to the Fins.
Early taunting from the side lines had clearly geared up the Letchworth team as they responded with a quick reply down the right flank after a forward pass from no.8 Graham Rutherford turned possession over. Successful kick from a difficult position by the Letchworth 10 left the score at 5-7
Finsbury Park returned to script, putting phase after phase together to great effect, eventually unleashing the aptly named Shrek for a bulldozing run through to the try line. The extras yet again missed and the score stood at 10-7
Play resumed with the Fins taking the kick-off comfortably and confidently rumbling through the phases until a dropped ball from Graham ‘Tits for hands’ Rutherford turned possession over. Despite the best efforts of the Finsbury Park no.8 to aid Letchworth, the Fins regained possession and some excellent offloading from the FP forwards worked some open space to send resident winger and Britain enthusiast Jake Painter over in the corner. Having already fluffed two, Pattinson handed over kicking duties to the storming debutant Lloyd Hughes who slotted it over.
Evidently flustered by having watched Ireland slip from ‘the best team in the world’ to losing to Japan, Graham Rutherford dived straight over a ruck to concede a penalty and once again return possession to the opposition. Nevertheless, resolute defence kept the opposition at bay and FP broke up field, showing dazzling hands to keep the ball alive before finding it’s way to Stephen Morse. Spurred on by the heroics of his front row colleague he charged into contact, however losing the ball in the process to cries of ‘Morse, Morse, hands of a horse’ coming from the bench.
The atmosphere at Downhills was beginning to grow with dozens of fans cheering on their sides. As Letchworth gained the ascendency, they approached the FP line, and with some decent hands out of the tackle they crashed over the line…or so they thought… the mighty tackle machine Shin Ando threw himself at the opposition player smashing him back and denying a score. From the resulting scrum, a loose pass from the Letchworth scrum-half was toe poked through by Lloyd Hughes. He followed up dribbling the ball upfield in a manner that suggests he would be more at home on a football pitch, eventually touching down between the sticks
One further bulldozing run from Shrek down the wing before putting in a step on the opposition fullback that Jason Robinson would have been envious of, left the halftime score at 27-12 - the Fins looking in good shape going into the break
The second half started in a bit of a flurry, and 5 quick Letchworth tries put them back in contention 27-42.
Fins bravely stepped up to the challenge, but only managed a solitary score through eventual man of the match Lloyd Hughes to leave the final score at 34-42.
A poor second half from the Fins but plenty of promising talent shown in the first half provides optimism as we march forward.
MOTM: Lloyd Hughes
DOTD: Will Monk
HOTM: Shin Ando
Kick-off…and the Fins wasted no time putting their warm-up form into action. A cleanly taken early line-out was spun out to newly reinstated fly-half James Pattison who worked a lovely cut back move to send debutant Lloyd Hughes scything through the defence to touch down under the sticks for the first try only one minute into the match. Despite showing great dexterity in his passing, Pattison was unable to add the extras with the boot. 5-0 to the Fins.
Early taunting from the side lines had clearly geared up the Letchworth team as they responded with a quick reply down the right flank after a forward pass from no.8 Graham Rutherford turned possession over. Successful kick from a difficult position by the Letchworth 10 left the score at 5-7
Finsbury Park returned to script, putting phase after phase together to great effect, eventually unleashing the aptly named Shrek for a bulldozing run through to the try line. The extras yet again missed and the score stood at 10-7
Play resumed with the Fins taking the kick-off comfortably and confidently rumbling through the phases until a dropped ball from Graham ‘Tits for hands’ Rutherford turned possession over. Despite the best efforts of the Finsbury Park no.8 to aid Letchworth, the Fins regained possession and some excellent offloading from the FP forwards worked some open space to send resident winger and Britain enthusiast Jake Painter over in the corner. Having already fluffed two, Pattinson handed over kicking duties to the storming debutant Lloyd Hughes who slotted it over.
Evidently flustered by having watched Ireland slip from ‘the best team in the world’ to losing to Japan, Graham Rutherford dived straight over a ruck to concede a penalty and once again return possession to the opposition. Nevertheless, resolute defence kept the opposition at bay and FP broke up field, showing dazzling hands to keep the ball alive before finding it’s way to Stephen Morse. Spurred on by the heroics of his front row colleague he charged into contact, however losing the ball in the process to cries of ‘Morse, Morse, hands of a horse’ coming from the bench.
The atmosphere at Downhills was beginning to grow with dozens of fans cheering on their sides. As Letchworth gained the ascendency, they approached the FP line, and with some decent hands out of the tackle they crashed over the line…or so they thought… the mighty tackle machine Shin Ando threw himself at the opposition player smashing him back and denying a score. From the resulting scrum, a loose pass from the Letchworth scrum-half was toe poked through by Lloyd Hughes. He followed up dribbling the ball upfield in a manner that suggests he would be more at home on a football pitch, eventually touching down between the sticks
One further bulldozing run from Shrek down the wing before putting in a step on the opposition fullback that Jason Robinson would have been envious of, left the halftime score at 27-12 - the Fins looking in good shape going into the break
The second half started in a bit of a flurry, and 5 quick Letchworth tries put them back in contention 27-42.
Fins bravely stepped up to the challenge, but only managed a solitary score through eventual man of the match Lloyd Hughes to leave the final score at 34-42.
A poor second half from the Fins but plenty of promising talent shown in the first half provides optimism as we march forward.
MOTM: Lloyd Hughes
DOTD: Will Monk
HOTM: Shin Ando
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