26 Sep 09
Midlands 2 West (South)
Old Laurentians 36 – 23 Earlsdon
Laurentians scored four excellent second half tries to entertain a large gathering of Vice Presidents after their annual lunch and eventually emerge victorious over an Earlsdon side who had them on the rack for the first 30 minutes of an entertaining game.
OLs nearly drew first blood when a superb 40 metre break by scrum half Richard Parker was halted just short of the line. But this was followed by a long period of Earlsdon pressure when they were thwarted only by some fine defending from OLs, the visitors emerging with just an early drop goal from fly half King.
On a rare foray upfield, OLs number 10 Ben Wiles equalised with a penalty before full back Kendall restored the visitors’ advantage with two well struck penalties for a 9-3 lead. Earlsdon dominated the game up to the half hour mark, putting OLs under heavy pressure in the scrums and testing their defensive qualities to the full
But OLs fought their way back into the game in the final minutes of the half, a break by Wiles coming to nought when his pass was spilled with the line beckoning, before the fly half put over a penalty for a half time score of 9-6 to the visitors.
Early in the second half, Wiles opened up the visitors defence again with a slashing break and found Iain Wallis up in support, the centre sending flanker Steve Pike over for Wiles to add the goal points to the try and give OLs the lead for the first time at 13-9. Wiles then added a further penalty for a 16-9 margin, before Earlsdon hit back with a close range try from a scrum, Kendall converting for 16-16.
Earlsdon were fighting back into contention before Wiles added another penalty to restore his side’s lead and OLs took total control for the final quarter, their scrummaging markedly improved after the arrival of Gary Hammond from the bench. First Simon Bayliss made good ground after a lovely pass from Evans gave him a yard of space, the wing sending Wallis over for a try.
Then full back Grant Inch almost added to the tally after a long run and beautifully judged chip over the last defender, the ball just eluding him as he dived for the touch down. But OLs pack soon extended their side’s lead after a well controlled driving maul from a lineout, Carl Adams claiming the try for 29-16.
Straight from the re-start, Wallis followed up another probing kick from Wiles to gather the ball and run in from thirty metres for his second try, Wiles converting to set the seal on a fine personal performance and a lead of 36-16 for his side.
Earlsdon worked their right wing over for a try in the dying seconds, Kendall again converting, but by this time OLs had the league points firmly in their grasp.
OL’s Jersey Sponsors
Before Saturday’s match, Old Laurentians were formally presented with new jerseys for both their 1st and 2nd XVs which have been sponsored jointly by Hydrex, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of mobile plant and equipment to the rail, extraction and construction industries and Webb Ellis, the Rugby based market leader for the supply of rugby clothing and kit.
John Tull and Rob Smith of Hydrex, and Lawrence Webb, managing director of Webb Ellis, were at Fenley Field on Saturday to hand over the new strips to club chairman Reiner Ferguson and the teams.
Report by Bill Wallis
