St Albans 15 Old Ashmoleans 10
Duncan Sharp began his captaincy of the twos with a solid, if not nail-biting, win. The game began with a hard fought ten minute defense of our own line. Old Ashmoleans had got their dandy up and attempted to force the early score; The gritty tackling would pay dividends later on in the match. Once our line had been cleared it became apparent that the scrums were on the retreat or being turned at every put in, with the long grass hampering a fast strike (at least on our feed.) The line outs were a much better vehicle for St Albans to release their backs. A foul by Ashmole allowed Mat Cody to slot a penalty, 3-0. The more the Ashmole pack were wound up the more Saints had to gain. Another penalty was awarded but Cody was unable to convert. The big breakthrough finally came from a lovely bit of mazey running from Tom Grover who rounded his man on the right. Conversion missed. The pressure being applied by St Albans had begun to increase and the penalty count stood us in good field position. Sadly a missed touch from the very same boot of Mat Cody landed the ball squarely in the hands of the Ashmole flyer and let me tell you baby, he was open for business. He stepped Tom Grover and blitzed down to the Saints five yard line where a sweetly timed pass saw him get mashed but his supporting team mate go over for a great try. Well, it was a great try. Well done him.
Highlight of the second half was Craig Huddleston's sin-binning. He made a tackle so late, he just had to go.Yellow card. And in front of his mum and dad. On a more positive note, Dan Edwards crossed to open his account for the season with Cody converting to make the score 15-5. Ashmole's pressure was rewarded with a further score. 15-10. Although the Saints machine was throwing off the cobwebs of the summer, Ashmole still made in roads into the home teams half and could have squeezed a draw (if not a win) had the knees of Mick O'Shea not blocked a piercing kick. His follow up and securing of the ball allowed Saints to clear their lines and from a series of penalties get close to the Ashmole line. Tom Grover had the last word in the game and instead of kicking the ball out and win the game, chose to run it instead. Heart attack? Yes please! Welcome to the club Big Justin/Jason who smashed a good smash in the second half.
Roly Asbo Mick O'Shea, Tim Davy, Mark Davies, Gaz, C Huddleston, D Stanford, Danny Edwards, Stilly, Tom Wicling, Duncan Sharp (c) Paul Randall Tom Grover Mat Cody Mat Penfold Justin/Jason
St Albans 56 - 17 Barnet
A lacklustre performance from the second team saw them struggle against a 14 man Barnet side on Saturday. 5 tries from Matt Cody and a Man of the Match performance from Hash Puri, along with a 4 try last 10 minutes from Saints rescued the day, and made the scoreline look flattering.
A blood injury to Simon forced him from the pitch early on, and after the pack was re-shuffled, with Matty "I'm definitely not playing prop this season!" Huddleston stepping into the front row, player coach Mark Trude took the field to show us all how it should be done. Saint Albans never got in to the game properly, and let Barnets No. 8 run in 3 tries with sloppy defence and poor tackling. At 34-17 midway through the second half, a comeback from Barnet looked to be on the cards, and Saints finally fronted up and got their act together, playing some good rugby to make the scoreline look respectable.
A poor performance against a 14 man Barnet side should be the kick that the side needs to get the season going. The backs are looking sharp, but the pack never fired, so did not supply good clean ball to a backline that is capable of taking teams apart.