| Match Report Shelford vs. Tring Sat 15th Nov 2008 |
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| Written by Administrator | |
| Monday, 17 November 2008 | |
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Defensive errors led to Tring’s first try. Communication was poor and tackles were missed allowing the right winger to touch down in the corner. Another Tring score followed shortly as, again, defensive incompetence allowed the Tring centre to waltz through our midfield without a finger being laid on him. This was a severe wake up call for the Shelford boys and neat work down the right saw James Ball put Ed Gough away, who drew the last man and fed Dom Jones for our first score. As we started to play our way into the game, Tring began to struggle with the phases that we were putting together. They gave kickable penalties away and Ed Gough stepped up to convert the first of these. However, a reckless late tackle after an aimless Tring up-and-under saw Tring awarded a penalty in the Shelford 22, which their kicker gratefully converted to put the home side 17 – 10 ahead. More good work from Shelford created an opportunity for Kramer Ronaki who hammered his way over the tryline for Shelford’s second score. Gough converted to bring the scores level. Another penalty for Gough put us ahead for the first time in the game, but with minutes remaining on the clock, a chip and chase by the home side was poorly defended and allowed Tring to score their third try of the game. With the extras added, Tring went into the half-time break with a well deserved 24 – 20 lead. This had possibly been Shelford's worst half of rugby this season. After a deserved and thorough dressing down by Sam at the interval, our collective mood appeared to improve. A steely determination permeated the Shelford huddle and at this point we felt as though we knew exactly how to play and what needed to happen in order for us to win this match. It wasn’t going to be pretty, but we would have to play a tight game, win the physical battle and wear our opponents down in order to claim victory. Despite being a little predictable, Shelford played the remainder of the game in the forwards. Forward drives close to the breakdown were working to good effect and the Tring forwards were clearly struggling to cope with our physicality and power. From 15 meters out, the outstanding Ronaki spotted a gap directly behind the breakdown, scooped up the ball and powered over for his second score of the game. He is getting very adept at executing this manoeuvre, which saw him make a couple of similar breaks against Barnes the week before. Gough converted to make the score 24 – 27 in our favour. An unnecessary penalty gifted the Tring kicker an easy 3 points to bring the scores level once more. James Ball got in on the act and made some good yardage up the right flank after using the “Ronaki Pick”! However, we were unable to make our possession and territory pay and Tring escaped into our half. Another penalty put the home side ahead and with minutes remaining on the clock, a hook against the head at a 5 meter scrum allowed Aki Lea space and time to crash over the Tring line for the all-important winning score. By any stretch of the imagination, this was a disappointing performance by the Shelford collective. We allowed complacency to creep into our game and played as though we had a god-given right to win the game. Now that we are at the top of the table, teams will want to depose us. In addition to that, we should play every like the top of the table team and earn that title each time we set foot on the pitch. We need to mature quickly as a group if we are to keep the dream of an unbeaten season alive. I am confident that we will. The silver lining to the Tring game was that we won the game and, particularly in the second half, played some very disciplined and effective rugby. Now we need to improve the consistency of our performance and apply ourselves for the full 80 minutes. Still top of the table, although there is plenty of room for improvement. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 17 November 2008 ) |
Tring 30 – 34 Shelford | < Prev | Next > |
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