| Captain's Report - Sat 19th January 2008 |
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| Written by Administrator | |
| Monday, 21 January 2008 | |
 Shelford 25 – 7 Old Albanians A slow start by Shelford and poor discipline resulted in several penalties being awarded against the home side and provided the visitors with a foothold in the game. Defensive confusion at a midfield scrum enabled the Old Albanian’s number 8 to slice through the Shelford defence and offload to his support for the first score of the game. As Shelford’s discipline improved, we were able to stamp our authority on the game. Driven line outs were outstanding once again, as was the contribution of the forwards throughout the game. Shelford also won the tactical kicking battle, allowing us to play the majority of the game in our opponent’s half. Sustained pressure led to a moment of opportunism by Liam Deards, who pounced on a loose pass from the Old Albanians backs and fly hacked the ball through to score close to the posts. Tom Dann converted to level the scores at 7 all. By the end of the first half, Shelford realised that our opponents were tiring and continued our route 1 approach through the forwards to score again. This time Aki Lea powered his way through an unwilling defence to score in the right hand corner. I doubt you would find anyone in this division willing to tackle the rampaging Tongan bull when he is at full tilt! More territory for Shelford followed in the second half and this was combined with a well-organised home defence to prevent Old Albanians from getting into this match. Tom Dann scored a penalty kick to extend Shelford’s lead to 15 – 7. Unrelenting pressure in the OA’s 22 led to Kramer Ronaki scoring Shelford’s third try. The New Zealander was brought down about 5 meters short of the line, but wasn’t held in the tackle. He had the presence of mind to lay the ball down, spring to his feet and power through the opposition defence for an all-important score. This was the highlight of the game for me and represented the quick thinking and dogged determination that was prevalent throughout the Shelford side on Saturday. Shelford’s fourth try came courtesy of Sam “smuggler” Tovo. We set up another driven line out and Shelford hooker Neep had the ball at the back of a well-controlled maul. The try line beckoned and Neep must have thought that he was on the verge of scoring his first try of the season. A try that he would have thoroughly deserved, as his consistent lineout throwing in appalling conditions was nothing less than superb. Neep dived for the line only to be robbed of the ball at the last minute by player coach Tovo, who emerged with the ball and a slightly uncomfortable grin on his face – acknowledgement enough that was he was perhaps fortunate to find his name on the scoresheet this time! After the final whistle, Shelford second row and Scottish Braveheart, Dave Macauley, hailed the efforts of the Shelford front row that played together for the first time and achieved outstanding results. In scrums, lineouts and around the park, these three were simply outstanding. Stand up and be recognised Nick Arnold, Simon Neep and Kramer Ronaki. You led from the front and were the foundation of our victory on Saturday! The wins keep coming. Team spirit and belief are growing. Enjoyment is increasing. The hope of promotion lives on. Bring on Hertford next week!!! |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 August 2008 ) |
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