London Scottish A 38Sutton & Epsom A 0(Friendly) Following the delay in the Development team’s match, this game was reduced to 30 minutes per half. Unfortunately, following the first Scottish thrust, Buz suffered a strained knee and Joe G had to give up on his chocolate muffin and return to the pitch for his second game of the day.
Most of the first half was a tense affair with the Scottish team giving away too many penalties and on occasion opting for over-complex plays. However, the strength of the Scots slowly started to have an impact and it was the home team that looked the more likely to score.
The first try came after 6 minutes following a good scrum attack from Guy, Adam and Declan. A line-out was won and a simple move by the backs allowed Kieran to cross for the first try, which he duly converted.
Further attacks were thwarted by S & E with a drive being held up over the line, and Levi, after a typically jinking run, spilling the ball just before scoring.
At scrum-half, Guy maintained a good momentum to the game with quick plays, and at every opportunity taking advantage of quick taps. When S & E players were caught within 10m of a Scottish penalty, Guy quickly fed the ball to Keshal who crossed for the team’s second converted score. Keshal’s celebration, on 23 minutes, was a sight to behold!
In the second half, despite the S & E team providing stern resistance, the Scottish team slowly exerted more pressure. Another thrust by Levi again resulted in a spill over the line, but it wasn’t long before the forwards provided the next scoring opportunity. A scrum against the head allowed Guy to attack blind and leave Keith with a simple score out wide. 19-0 to Scottish.
With 50 minutes played the Scottish team entered their purple patch. A blindside thrust by Adam just fell short but another scrum victory allowed Declan to pick-up from No. 8 with Guy and Ryan in support. From the ensuing ruck Daniel powered over for a perfectly constructed score. Kieran added the two points.
The S & E restart failed to go 10m and from the scrum on half-way, Ryan opted for a grubber through the defence. He retrieved the ball, and in one move fed Kieran for a lovely score out wide.
Scottish maintained the pressure and the final score was another well constructed effort. Nuno retrieved a clearing kick and ran back at the opposition. Another simple ruck ball was secured which allowed Kieran to smash his way through the still strong defence for his third try of the game and a personal haul of 23 points.
Team: 1 K Devchand (L Keen 40); 2 T Farrell (D Neal 20); 3 L Keen (T Farrell 30); 4 S Holloway; 5 T Henderson; 6 A Ferguson; 7 H Ullah; 8 D McPate; 9 G Luscombe; 10 R Flannery; 11 N Barreiro-Rosario; 12 K Morgan; 13 B Shabani (capt.) (J Garland 4); 14 K Reddy; 15 L McDonald.
Referee: David Garvey (Middlesex)
