London Scottish Highlanders/Bs run in six tries in a dominant 38-5 win over Bank of England 2s in Middlesex Merit League Division 2 clash.
Scottish dominated this game with an impressive display of committed, constructive rugby for a well-deserved win. With the strong wind behind them, Scottish had virtually all the first half play but only managed to post a twelve point lead. However, they maintained their momentum against the wind in determined style, secured a couple of tries to deny Bank any prospect of turning the game around and ran out convincing winners.
A successful training week for Scottish was soon evident in the measured build-up of phases prising open a gap for Adam Webber to score after just seven minutes. Scottish created several more chances and their second score came when Aaron Perrin scooped up a loose ball dislodged as stiff Scottish defence pressed Bank backwards over halfway.
Ten minutes into the second half and Webber was at it again, making an outside break and outpacing the cover to score in the corner. He even managed the conversion with a splendid kick into the gale. A couple of minutes later, slick interpassing between forwards and backs put Tommy Cotterill in for a try. Bank made ground for a rare foray into the Scottish 22, but lost the ball and Cotterill sprinted 85 metres for his second score.
Bank mounted their only period of concerted pressure in the game and it eventually yielded a score after Scottish were repeatedly penalised in defence. However, Scottish were determined to finish on a positive note, and Stuart May, after knocking on a difficult pass over the try-line, popped up to collect Tom MacArthur’s feed after a series of attacking rucks for the final try, converted by Josh Graham. This capped an excellent all-round team performance, with Rob Wilson awarded the man of the match.
Team: 15 Josh Graham; 14 Mark Oliveria, 13 Aaron Perrin, 12 Nick Kendall, 11 Joel Maisey; 10 Adam Webber, 9 Tom MacArthur; 8 Stuart May (captain), 7 Eliot Fallon, 6 Hamish Coventry; 5 Charlie Howard, 4 Denis Gibson; 3 David Greene, 2 Rob Wilson, 1 Marcus Bailey.
Replacements: Alasdair Reid, Alex Hawkes, Charlie Marchant-Rowe, Tommy Cotterill, Donald Milligan.
Tries: Webber 2, Perrin, Cotterill 2, May. Conversions: Webber 3, Graham.
Scoring sequence: 0-7 (7 mins), 0-12 (23); 0-19 (51), 0-24 (53), 0-31(66), 5-31 (72), 5-38 (80+1).
Conditions: Bitterly cold, strong wind, spitting rain. Pitch tight, immaculately manicured and lined.
This weekend sees the Highlanders take on top team Worthing in the Shield and the B's taking on Hammersmith & Fulham VI in the Middlesex Merit Table. Both games are at home with the B's kicking off at 1pm and the Highlanders at 1.30pm.
The B's are looking to continue their winning ways after beating Bank of England last week while the Highlanders are looking to put a performance together that can upset the strong Worthing side.
Come down and support the other senior sides at the club before the first XV kick off against Leeds at 3pm!
