23 Jan 10
Midlands 2 West (South)
Old Laurentians 93 – Old Coventrians 5
Simon Bayliss contributed a record breaking six tries as OLs ruthlessly crushed their Coventry rivals with a performance full of skill, pace and power, running in fourteen tries in total. OLs prolific wing took full advantage of the dominant platform built by his side’s forwards to destroy the opposition with his devastating running, sending the stats men reaching for the record books.
The outcome is that this was a first for OL’s top team, only once before achieved by a player in a lower side; and the final score was also an OL’s record for a league match.
OLs signalled their intent as early as the third minute when Denzil Evans danced over for the first try; followed minutes later when Ben O’Riordan galloped in after smart interplay with Ollie Cowley. Then Evans added a penalty before Bayliss struck three times in a devastating eight minute burst to lift the score to 34-0 just 25 minutes into the game. Each time excellent approach work needed to be finished, which the wing did with clinical precision.
Old Coventrians hit back with a well taken try by their left wing, which in the final analysis turned out to be a consolation score for them. From the restart however, a defensive fumble allowed Iain Wallis to produce a great pick up and charge before offloading to brother Ted who then released the busy Mark Todd who burrowed through four defenders to add a sixth try and a 41-6 lead. Then Bayliss stepped in again with his fourth try, after great follow up work by Wallis caught a defender in possession, and half time arrived with a 46-5 score line.
OLs took a breather in the early stages of the second half before full back Scott Wiles scythed through a despairing OC’s defence, only to be held up as he went over for the touch down. But the respite for the defence was only brief as Adams picked up at the resultant scrum to go over and post the half century of points.
Bayliss ran a great line to claim his fifth after good work by Evans and Wiles set up the chance, the conversion pushing the score to 60 – 5 with twenty minutes still to go.
Next came arguably the two best scores of the game. First, that man Bayliss fielded a speculative OC’s kick deep in his twenty two and called a mark. He tapped the kick to himself and set off for the opposition line, chipped over the first line of defence, gathered his own kick and left the final covering defenders for dead as he sprinted in.
After Evans conversion, OC’s re-start kick went straight into touch, whereupon the quick thinking Chris le Poidevin gathered the ball and ran to the half way line. There he took a quick throw in to Adams and the number 8 set off for the line, finding Le Poidevin galloping up in support for the prop to complete what he had started with a final dash to the line, hoisting the score to 72-5.
Glenn Todd was quickest to a loose ball to go over for the next score before Richard Parker dummied his way over to touch down. Then Adams picked up at a scrum close to half way to find Parker in support and the scrum half went over for his second try, Evans conversion completing the rout.
OCs had gamely stuck to their task throughout, but if they managed to escape the predatory clutches of OLs back row of Glenn Todd, Adams and Tom Gleghorn they were blotted out by the tackling of Ted and Iain Wallis in the centre. Paul Willis and O’Riordan guaranteed possession from the lineout and the pack scrummaged strongly throughout, Garrie Reeve turning in yet another sterling performance before giving way to le Poidevin in the second half.
Andy Orbinson, asked to play in the unfamiliar position of left wing, looked on enviously as the ball kept finding its way to Bayliss on the other flank. Denzil Evans masterminded affairs in midfield very efficiently and contributed 23 points with his boot to add to his try; and Scott Wiles, with little by way of defensive duties to attend to, was a constant threat with his running from full back. With a massive score like this, and on his birthday, Paul Willis was left ruefully contemplating a missed opportunity to score his first try for the first XV at Fenley Field!
This win lifted OLs to third place in the league table and substantially improved the team’s points difference, a factor which could be critical in the final reckoning at the end of the season. But the outcome left many heads being scratched, particularly by those who were at Old Coventrians’ ground in October when the hosts pulled off a comprehensive 25-9 victory to mark the low point of our season so far. The turn round could not have been more marked!
The afternoon’s biggest disappointment was brought about by OCs scratching the second team game. Ricky Reed’s men were looking forwarding to redressing the balance after a much reinforced OCs 2nd team knocked them out of the Warwickshire Cup on a Sunday at the end of November. They were anticipating a more level playing field for a Saturday fixture and were anxious to demonstrate their strength.
Scorers:
Simon Bayliss – 6 tries
Denzil Evans – 1 try, 1 penalty, 10 conversions
Richard Parker – 2 tries
Ben O’Riordan, Mark Todd, Carl Adams, Chris le Poidevin, Glenn Todd – each 1 try
Report by Bill Wallis
