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OLD CRYPTIANS 2ND XV 30 - 24 DOWTY
Duncan Normington19 Sep 2012 - 09:44
There follows an epic match report from skipper Elias McGill...
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon at The Memorial Ground, Old Cryptians 2nds got their season off to a sublime start. It was clear from the warm up that this was a very young looking 2nd team and this was represented with 5 players making their debut for the 2nds. For the first time in living memory, not one drop goal was attempted in the warm up by any player and an actual team jog around the pitch and a series of stretches set up the new regime for the season. A squad of 20 players meant the rare but blessed gift of a full team and a bench which turned out to be one of the major turning points in the game.
Dowty won the toss and opted to play up the hill. From the kick off Dowty launched a barrage of attacks upon the Cryptians defence and they soon found their way through it, scoring under the posts with the fly-half adding the extras. This early try gave Dowty the momentum and again they began to apply the pressure with a series of pick-and-goes and sniping runs from the rucks, their 7 being a major ball carrier for them and taking 2 defenders with him each time. Dowty then spent five minutes camped deep into Cryptians 22 and soon the pressure got to Cryptians when a penalty was given away 5 metres out and the Dowty fly-half added the 3 points from it. But soon Cryptians bit back. A high hanging restart from Billy McTaggart gave the pack plenty of time to get to the ball and a big hit from EJ McGill forced the knock-on by Dowty. From the scrum Ryan Hunter produced his trademark snipe from the back of the scrum and outpaced the backline to crash over the line from the 22.
Cryptians now seemed to have the momentum and a brilliant passage of play by Chris Barton and Matt Byers set up a brilliantly worked team try in the corner which Keith Trigg ran in from the 22, flattening 2 defenders in the process. McTaggart slotted the conversion from far out on the touchline. A lack of communication from the restart caused a basic and unforced error which resulted in a Dowty scrum from which they scored in the corner with the fly-half again adding the conversion.
With 10 minutes to go until half time, Dowty began to tire, most likely caused by the infamous Cryptians slope allied with some fierce defense from Cryptians who were defending like rabid beavers. Shakey managed to somehow rip his boot apart and so Adam Smart was brought on whilst he went to go change into one of his many spares which caused a slight change in the lineouts. Alec Moody became front jumper and McGill was lifted single-handedly by Smart’s ever-increasing biceps. The Dowty openside continued to make big yardage for his team and he was soon highlighted as the danger man. Unfortunately for him he decided to try and take on Craig Byers one on one and the resulting aftermath was a trademark Byers tackle that left the Dowty openside sprawled out flat like he had just been hit by a train. A nod and a wink from Craig confirmed he had indeed taken out their danger man. The loss of their key player caused a reshuffle for Dowty that led to an error resulting in a fantastic counter-attacking try for Cryptians. A poor kick from the Dowty 12 sat up perfectly for James Bluett who put in an inch perfect kick for John Madigan to chase through and spectacularly out-jump the opposition winger, rising like a salmon to catch the ball one-handed. He then made a fool of the centre who was in a desperate bid to salvage his error and ,when one on one with the full back, gave a beautifully weighted pass to Adam Picton who put his head down, switched the after-burners on and outpaced the other winger rushing across, leaving him for dead to score in the corner. Craig then had a try disallowed in controversial fashion. A quick tap penalty from 5 meters out saw him crash over the line, only for the ref to blow his whistle and say the Dowty physio was on the pitch so therefore the try did not stand. Various rumors suggest the ref just didn't want to let a northerner score a try, so he was instantly forgiven. The score at half-time was 17-17.
Cryptians started the second half with 4 changes and this breathed new life into the side and an increased level of intensity that Dowty were not prepared for. Steve Wynn took the half-time break to refuel with the traditional Cryptians energy-supply of a cigarette and this breathed new life into him in the second half where he made some good yards with some strong runs from the base of the rucks. Jason Norwood came into the centre and injected some speed and intensity into the backline. His clever kicks ahead gained vital territory for Cryptians and constantly had Dowty on the back foot. Dustin Burt, making his debut for the club, added some pace and bulk to the back line and put in several crunching tackles that prevented a Dowty attack. The relentless Cryptians pressure soon led to a second try for Ryan Hunter who found himself in the right place at the right time in a 3 man overlap that saw Chris Barton dummy scissors and feed Ryan to crash over.
Walking over in a yellow Man United shirt before kickoff it was easy to mistake him for Danny Welbeck however it was Evans that entered the fold after 50 minutes making a cameo on the wing. However he seemed to get lost in translation and ended up running 50 meters across the pitch to pick the ball up from a ruck and attempt a pick and go only to be flattened by the opposition and spill the ball in the process. A huge up and under from Dowty full back saw the ball head straight towards Evans. Living up to his Topsy Ojo alter-ego he caught the ball, stepped the first man, dummied the second defender then proceeded to make a 20 metre run. With only the full back to beat and a simple 2 on 1, Evans forgot the rules of rugby and launched the ball 20 metres into the air and about 5 metres forward. This marked the end of his cameo appearance but he left the pitch smiling as always!
Dowty then brought their openside back on who made a big impact again with strong runs making further hard yards and sucking in 2 defenders at a time. Soon cracks in the defense started to appear and some quick hands in the backs saw the Dowty winger crash over which the fly-half converted to give them a 24-22 lead with 15 minutes to go.
A try and a penalty from debutant Carn gave Cryptians a 30-24 lead with just 10 minutes to go. The final 10 minutes saw Cryptians starved of any possession of the ball. A heroic defensive performance which saw every player putting their bodies on the line to stop the unremitting barrage of attacks by the Dowty forwards prevented Dowty getting that elusive try. A fine covering tackle from Ben Palmer on the line gave Louis Bird enough time to hold the ball up and give Cryptians a scrum in the final play of the game which they duly won and kicked the ball deep into touch.
Dowty won the toss and opted to play up the hill. From the kick off Dowty launched a barrage of attacks upon the Cryptians defence and they soon found their way through it, scoring under the posts with the fly-half adding the extras. This early try gave Dowty the momentum and again they began to apply the pressure with a series of pick-and-goes and sniping runs from the rucks, their 7 being a major ball carrier for them and taking 2 defenders with him each time. Dowty then spent five minutes camped deep into Cryptians 22 and soon the pressure got to Cryptians when a penalty was given away 5 metres out and the Dowty fly-half added the 3 points from it. But soon Cryptians bit back. A high hanging restart from Billy McTaggart gave the pack plenty of time to get to the ball and a big hit from EJ McGill forced the knock-on by Dowty. From the scrum Ryan Hunter produced his trademark snipe from the back of the scrum and outpaced the backline to crash over the line from the 22.
Cryptians now seemed to have the momentum and a brilliant passage of play by Chris Barton and Matt Byers set up a brilliantly worked team try in the corner which Keith Trigg ran in from the 22, flattening 2 defenders in the process. McTaggart slotted the conversion from far out on the touchline. A lack of communication from the restart caused a basic and unforced error which resulted in a Dowty scrum from which they scored in the corner with the fly-half again adding the conversion.
With 10 minutes to go until half time, Dowty began to tire, most likely caused by the infamous Cryptians slope allied with some fierce defense from Cryptians who were defending like rabid beavers. Shakey managed to somehow rip his boot apart and so Adam Smart was brought on whilst he went to go change into one of his many spares which caused a slight change in the lineouts. Alec Moody became front jumper and McGill was lifted single-handedly by Smart’s ever-increasing biceps. The Dowty openside continued to make big yardage for his team and he was soon highlighted as the danger man. Unfortunately for him he decided to try and take on Craig Byers one on one and the resulting aftermath was a trademark Byers tackle that left the Dowty openside sprawled out flat like he had just been hit by a train. A nod and a wink from Craig confirmed he had indeed taken out their danger man. The loss of their key player caused a reshuffle for Dowty that led to an error resulting in a fantastic counter-attacking try for Cryptians. A poor kick from the Dowty 12 sat up perfectly for James Bluett who put in an inch perfect kick for John Madigan to chase through and spectacularly out-jump the opposition winger, rising like a salmon to catch the ball one-handed. He then made a fool of the centre who was in a desperate bid to salvage his error and ,when one on one with the full back, gave a beautifully weighted pass to Adam Picton who put his head down, switched the after-burners on and outpaced the other winger rushing across, leaving him for dead to score in the corner. Craig then had a try disallowed in controversial fashion. A quick tap penalty from 5 meters out saw him crash over the line, only for the ref to blow his whistle and say the Dowty physio was on the pitch so therefore the try did not stand. Various rumors suggest the ref just didn't want to let a northerner score a try, so he was instantly forgiven. The score at half-time was 17-17.
Cryptians started the second half with 4 changes and this breathed new life into the side and an increased level of intensity that Dowty were not prepared for. Steve Wynn took the half-time break to refuel with the traditional Cryptians energy-supply of a cigarette and this breathed new life into him in the second half where he made some good yards with some strong runs from the base of the rucks. Jason Norwood came into the centre and injected some speed and intensity into the backline. His clever kicks ahead gained vital territory for Cryptians and constantly had Dowty on the back foot. Dustin Burt, making his debut for the club, added some pace and bulk to the back line and put in several crunching tackles that prevented a Dowty attack. The relentless Cryptians pressure soon led to a second try for Ryan Hunter who found himself in the right place at the right time in a 3 man overlap that saw Chris Barton dummy scissors and feed Ryan to crash over.
Walking over in a yellow Man United shirt before kickoff it was easy to mistake him for Danny Welbeck however it was Evans that entered the fold after 50 minutes making a cameo on the wing. However he seemed to get lost in translation and ended up running 50 meters across the pitch to pick the ball up from a ruck and attempt a pick and go only to be flattened by the opposition and spill the ball in the process. A huge up and under from Dowty full back saw the ball head straight towards Evans. Living up to his Topsy Ojo alter-ego he caught the ball, stepped the first man, dummied the second defender then proceeded to make a 20 metre run. With only the full back to beat and a simple 2 on 1, Evans forgot the rules of rugby and launched the ball 20 metres into the air and about 5 metres forward. This marked the end of his cameo appearance but he left the pitch smiling as always!
Dowty then brought their openside back on who made a big impact again with strong runs making further hard yards and sucking in 2 defenders at a time. Soon cracks in the defense started to appear and some quick hands in the backs saw the Dowty winger crash over which the fly-half converted to give them a 24-22 lead with 15 minutes to go.
A try and a penalty from debutant Carn gave Cryptians a 30-24 lead with just 10 minutes to go. The final 10 minutes saw Cryptians starved of any possession of the ball. A heroic defensive performance which saw every player putting their bodies on the line to stop the unremitting barrage of attacks by the Dowty forwards prevented Dowty getting that elusive try. A fine covering tackle from Ben Palmer on the line gave Louis Bird enough time to hold the ball up and give Cryptians a scrum in the final play of the game which they duly won and kicked the ball deep into touch.
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