The Brigands welcomed Old Alleynians 3rd XV to Well Hall on Saturday, expecting a tough encounter like every time we play a team from OA and so it proved to be.
It was very even in the opening exchanges with both teams doing an excellent job in blunting each others attack with solid D. With some naivety perhaps Club were trying to put early width on the ball in less than ideal conditions, looking to capitalise on a powerful scrum and powerful carries breaking the gainline by Ollie Acton & Conor Mitchell in particular. OAs however came with the best defence we’ve encountered to date, with exceptional line speed that put us under pressure and made it hard to execute the strike plays that have served us so well to date.
The match remained scoreless for the first quarter when OAs, attacking from their 10m line chipped ahead after a couple of phases to get behind the Club defensive line, for the ball to then go into touch 15m from our line. The subsequent lineout did not do to plan as the ball went over the top and the OAs back bookend recovered the ball. After a series of phases the visitors were forced into touch, only for the lineout to misfire again. OAs went wide from the first ruck with a backs move and were stopped a metre short 5m in from the far corner by the scramble defence. OAs folder marginally faster than Club to have a 2 on 1 in the narrow blindside, giving them a score in the corner. The conversion was missed: 0-5, with 20 minutes played.
The next period of play reflected the first 20mins: The Club forwards making powerful carries and the scrum a useful weapon where we had an advantage. The OAs defence was perhaps the best we’ve faced to date in league competition for several years, forcing Fly Half Nathan Brindle to be more of crash ball 10 than his frame perhaps is designed for, and their backline threatened throughout. A consistent feature throughout the match was both teams losing the ball in contact too often in the wet & muddy conditions, resulting in both more scrums and lots of counter attacks.
Play was concentrated largely between the two 10m lines for the next 12 minutes, until a line break by Inside Centre Zac Bainbridge took Club to inside OAs 22 and, after a series of rucks the ball came to Brindle who stepped between two defenders racing wide to cover the overlap, and scored. The wind blew the ball off the tee with the shot clock running down and the hurried drop goal conversion was missed. 5-5 after 34 mins.
The restart was gathered inside our 22 and, after two phases, Right Wing Billy Coker made a touchline break up to OAs 10m line. A series of carries took us to the 22 where a penalty advantage was called from which Bainbridge put in a Crossfield kick for Brindle and Coker to chase. OAs touched the ball down so the penalty was called back and so Club kicked for touch. A series of phases on the Visitors 5m line followed the lineout whilst calls to exploit a 5 on 1 overlap were ignored until Loosehead James Sheldon eventually scored, after an hilarious ‘hot potato’ moment, Brindle converted and it was 12-5 on 36 minutes.
OAs kicked long at the restart and Fullback Rory Macleod chipped & chased but the ball was gathered by OAs on the near 15m line. After two phases and going wide they gained a penalty 10m from our try line just in from Touch. The quick tap & go got to with the 5m and they crashed over from the subsequent ruck. The conversion was good and it was 12-12 at the half.
The Brigands knew that they potentially faced their first loss of the season as they went into the break so the half time talk focussed on the restoration of our pattern, more depth in attack line speed in D.
Off the restart a few phases were played before Club earned a penalty and from the subsequent Lineout a rampaging Ollie Action set the tone with a massive carry which broke the line and a little over 30 metres were gained only for the Club side to concede a penalty themselves. OAs gained ground with the kick to touch and then made ground with some big carries of their own. We gave away another penalty for hands in the ruck and with no advantage coming OAs opted to kick for goal, which not only missed but also finally gave Fullback Rory Macleod a broken field to run at and he made it to almost halfway before offloading to Wing Juve Iragaba, who in turn offloaded to Centre Charlie Shaw. The passage of play took us to the OAs 10m line, where they conceded an offside penalty for us find touch 12m out. The OAs defence held us for a few phases until they conceded another penalty 7m form their line so the obvious call was the Tonga set piece move, which enabled Mitchell to crash over. Brindle was good with the extras and Club were 7 points clear again.
Club gathered the restart on their 22 and from the first ruck Brindle found Bainbridge who made a 20m line break and then put Macleod into space from which the try came. The extras were good and Club were 26-12 ahead.
From here discipline became an issue for the Brigands as, before long, the combination of a strong attack by OAs and penalties conceded saw the visitors inside the 5 and threatening our line. Fortunately a misjudged Crossfield kick going into touch gave back possession to Club and play got back almost halfway. The to and fro continued until the hour mark until the Brigands were awarded a penalty 30m out and the sensible, because the game was far from won, but surprising, because no one could remember the last time we did this, decision to take a shot at goal was taken. It could not be converted however, which nearly proved costly as OAs smelt blood and came at us hard, changing the point of attack & shifting the defence until a penalty and resultant lineout on our 5, from which OAs scored. 26-17
Club put together a promising attack that should have opened up the breathing space a bit but discipline was again our undoing, along with an OAs attack that felt the win was within their reach, and we went from attacking in their 22 to defending in ours when a high tackle saw a yellow card for Club and a lineout on our 5. OAs did well to shift the point of attack and create a 2 on 1 overlap on the blindside to put them over. The extras were again missed. 26-22.
The final four minutes were tense but Club held firm and full time saw the Brigands 26-22 winners.
The game was the closest and most competitive of the season to date and we count ourselves fortunate to still be unbeaten. Old Alleynians were fierce competitors on the pitch and gracious off of it. They will threaten everyone in this league and we can see them being promotion contenders by the end of the year.
As a footnote, there were seven home grown players in the 18 that pulled on the shirt on Saturday, which is increasingly becoming a theme across the two social teams and is a testament to the growing success of the player pathway from the age groups.
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