St.Albans 7 - Twickenham 21
satellite calculatorSaints welcomed Twickenham RFC to Boggymead Spring for the first time ever in a return leg of their Powergen London North 2 fixture both sides fighting hard to avoid the League relegation zone.At their inaugural match in this League last September at Twickenham , Saints lost 27-18.Today, Saints lead Twickenham by just one League point with this and just 2 other matches left this season.
In prospect , a crunch must win contest which could well decide who finishes third and fourth from bottom of the table -third from bottom possibly facing relegation.
Conditions were overcast after overnight rain and a touchline temperature of 10C. A brisk south westerly wind crossed a firm well kept pitch- good conditions for a high octane occasion.
Referee Mr Steve Johnson from Solihull got the game under way at 3 pm in front of a vocal crowd of around 75 knowledgeable partisan spectators from both Clubs many of whom had enjoyed an excellent VP's lunch beforehand.
Saints won the toss and elected to defend from the Vet's end.
Twickenham kicked off from the Oaklands end and rapidly conceded a penalty,the first of many in the match, as Saints ran it back.Saints worked the touchline forcing Twickenham into conceding 4 penalties in a row.Saints missed a kick at goal as the crosswind increased then with one huge kick,Twickenham were off the hook.
Both lineouts were working well Mark Davis (picture 1) for the hosts and Peter Goff for the visitors taking good clean lineout ball.
On 7 minutes no score but the odd injury by now.
The game settled into a midfield stalemate scrums and lineouts even, as they were most of the game , before Twickenham clawed their way to just 5 metres from Saints' line.
Saints' heel was rock solid and it was their turn for No 10 Jack Stevenson to clear to their 10 metre line.
On 19 minutes following a lineout near half way Saints drove forward and Twickenham's hooker Tytherleigh received a yellow card for a high handoff on John Sayers.
On 21 minutes bad news struck Saints as their captain second row Dan Hillier was substituted having dislocated a finger 10 minutes earlier -utility back five player Donald Onyuma going directly to replace him .
This disrupted Saints and even with Twickenham down to 14 men the visitors still worked their way into Saints' 22 finally forcing a kickable penalty .
On 27 minutes Saints 0 Twickenham 3.
Twickenham were using the assisting wind well and got to Saints' 22 where Jack Stevenson was penalised and yellow carded for apparently picking up the ball in open play but construed by Referee Johnson as deliberate offside.
Twickenham kicked another 3 points .
On 29 minutes Saints 0 Twickenham 6.
The game went off the boil with another series of injuries and infringements.
On 36 minutes Twickenham's No 16 blindside flanker was yellow carded for handling in the ruck .Saints drove to a depleted Twickenham's 22 but could not capitalise .
On 40 minutes Twickenham's big second row No 4 Peter Goff was yellow carded for stamping .The half fizzled out as the rain came down after a poor,undisciplined error strewn first 45 minutes which had seen 4 yellow cards -3 against Twickenham and one against Saints.
Everyone was up for it and it was anyone's game- just like a Cup Final !
Half Time Score . St.Albans 0 Twickenham 6 .
Saints started the second half from the Oaklands end in the rain with the brisk wind slightly in their favour.They arrived at Twickenham's 22 for an attacking lineout taken well by Mark Davis (picture 1).Wing Joe Shaw joined the ensuing maul then rolling off it made making good ground before feeding centre Phil James who was penalised for holding on in the tackle.Twickenham could not escape their half and conceded a lineout 25 metres out.This time it was County No 8 John Sayers who caught and broke clear feeding centre Martin Alderton,now stand -in captain,whose slick lightning pass found centre Phil James (picture 2) on full tilt who scored next to Twickenham's posts -converted by Jack Stevenson.
On 47 minutes it's game on - Saints 7 Twickenham 6.
This galvanised Twickenham who were soon restored from the bin to 15 men and moved up a gear .
It was Saints' turn to defend and they were giving away far too many penalties.
Twickenham were also spilling the ball which was by now like a bar of soap.
There was much to and fro before Twickenham's full back fielded a long Saints kick-promptly being sacked by the chasing John Andrews and James Dickinson.
On 55 minutes the next key moment of the contest arrived as Saints forced an attacking 5 metre scrum from a Twickenham knock on.An excellent Saints heel was ruined as their back row held on in the tackle literally a metre from under Twickenham's posts gifting Twickenham a precious pressure relieving penalty.Saints had spurned potentially a 7 pointer -they never got near enough again to score in the rest of the match.
Twickenham's tails went up and Saints defended well but were stifled by scrappy play,multiple injury breaks and knock ons all round.
On 67 minutes the visitors had pushed to 7 metres from Saints' line for an attacking scrum.A good quick Twickenham heel went left at pace down a big blindside for Twickenham's pacy winger Russell Withers to score in the corner -unconverted.
On 69 minutes Saints 7 Twickenham 11.
Saints went straight back throwing everything ,forwards and backs, at Twickenham but they held out as the game slowed down in midfield in the continuing rain.
On 73 minutes County wing Ed Coy came on for a limping Joe Shaw .
The next key moment came on 75 minutes when Saints won a scrum on their 10 metre line, made the hard yards then spilled the ball from good Twickenham offensive defence.Referee Johnson played good advantage as Twickenham hacked on finally into Saints in goal where No 21 James Clark scored a smash and grab predator's try next to Saints' posts.
A fracas then broke out and Saints' full back John Andrews was red carded for punching.Twickenham kicked an easy conversion to make it Saints 7 Twickenham 18 on 76 minutes.
Saints drove straight back from the restart but again spilled the ball Twickenham kicking to near Saints' line for an attacking 5 metre scrum-Saints having had to carry it over.
Saints held out well turning Twickenham's ball over and breaking out of their 22 but again losing the ball forward.Quick thinking Twickenham No 10 Phil Astbury added icing to the Twickenham cake with a smart drop goal to seal the match on 82 minutes at Saints 7 Twickenham 21.
As a precaution Saints' hooker Brenton Lemiere ,slightly injured,was substituted for Aussie Farren Mahoney near the end.
There was still time for Saints to show more of their character their backs feeding wing Ed Coy on a fine trademark 50 metre run that finished 10 metres from Twickenham's line as the curtain,and the rain , came down.
Final Score. St.Albans 7 Twickenham 21 .