Following the mid-week victory in the LV Cup against Ealing, several players took to the field for their second challenge of the week and they rose to the task with a resounding victory over Stevenage in the league.
On a glorious Sunday afternoon, the Scottish boys had to battle hard to resist some early attacks from Stevenage. They did so with some determined goal line defence. It took until the eighth minute for Scottish to get into the opposition half and, when they did, they quickly put some points on the board finishing off a fine move out wide for the first converted try.
Stevenage came straight back at Scottish and levelled the scores at 7-7 after some good controlled play, finally crashing through the defence to score under the posts. The first half continued to be a closely fought, but it was the home team that sneaked ahead just before the break. A flowing attack was finished when the ball was moved swiftly to the left wing for Dan to dot down in the corner. The half finished with a penalty kick to Scottish, after a great counter ruck by Sol, for a 15-7 half-time lead.
The half time talk from the Scottish coaches was to keep the plays simple and let the ball do the work and the boys really produced a much-improved second half display.
With 12 minutes played, Scottish had a ruck on the opposition 22; Tom spotted a gap and sprinted clear for the first score of the half. The next move was an attacking scrum was well-worked with number 8, Brandon and scrum-half Demi setting up the space with some clever inter-play. The move was finished nicely with some clever trail running by the back three and the score moved the team into a 29-7 lead. The penultimate score was a solo sprint by Bola who took the ball from the quick tap penalty to score under the posts.
The best move of the game came straight from the kick-off. Matas took the ball just outside his own 22 and went on a rampaging run down the right wing, evading tacklers and bouncing a few off on the process. Miles spotted the charge and ran a great support line to take the ball to the line where he was just held up by some desperate defence. From the 5-metre scrum the ball was moved right and Taino gave a perfectly delayed pass for Harith to score out wide.
Young Lions 30-22 Ealing Academy
The Junior Academy squad completed their group games in the LV Cup with a compelling victory over the defending cup champions, Ealing, in a game played under floodlights. They now progress the cup semi-final with a perfect record from the group games of three bonus-point wins.
As expected, the game started quite tentatively as both teams endeavoured to find opposition weak points. Ealing took three points from a penalty in front of the posts for the first score of the game. Scottish responded in kind just two minutes later to level the scores after ten minutes of play.
With 12 minutes on the clock, Ealing pressure on a Scottish scrum resulted in a mess at the back of the scrum. The ball ended up at Tom, playing at 15. He gathered the ball, spotted the hole in the Ealing defence and ran straight back at the advancing Ealing line. He evaded the first line of defence and broke clear from his own 22. A well-weighted chip ahead gave right-winger Timi the chance to gather and sprint clear for the first try of the game for an 8-3 Scottish lead.
Eight minutes later and Ealing went ahead after a series of attacks close to the Scottish line, resulting in a converted try. With 30 minutes on the clock, they went 15-8 ahead with another score, a well-worked move off a lineout following a great crash through the Scottish centres, backed up by some good support running.
The Scottish team stayed strong and came straight back at Ealing. A turnover by Matas and another run into opposition territory by hooker Tom, gave Scottish another chance to add three points and bring the score back to 11-15 at half time.
The game remained a tight contest with both teams working hard and having spells of dominance. It took until the seventeenth minute of the half before Scottish went ahead again. This time the forwards put pressure on the Ealing pack. After a several phases of play, a penalty was awarded to Scottish and Bola smashed over for a 16-15 lead.
Ealing forwards were not to be out done and regained the lead after a mauled lineout. With just five minutes left on the clock, Ealing had a 16-22 lead.
The Scottish boys showed great character and went straight back into the Ealing half. A deliberate infringement by an Ealing player resulted in one of their forwards receiving a yellow card and Scottish took advantage kicking the penalty to within five metres of the Ealing line. A well-won lineout was driven and Tuli touched down to put Scottish back in contention at 21-22. The conversion, by Fraser, from the touchline sailed through the posts to put Scottish 23-22 ahead with four minutes remaining.
Back came Ealing into the Scottish half but some stout defence and confident play from the Scottish boys allowed them to regather the ball and set up their own attack. The forwards took the ball into the Ealing half and the ball was again moved to fullback Tom who stepped his way through the defence. A kick ahead gave him the chance to show his pace and he regathered his own kick, beat the final defender and scored out wide for the decisive score. Fraser again added the two points to complete a great comeback and a well-deserved victory.
Scottish now look forward to hosting Hertford in the cup semi-final.
Squad:
Isaac Koomson, Tom Kane, Doug McLaughlin, Toby Warburton, Matas Jurevicius, Brandon Babalola, Sol Usher, Miles Wakeling, Tuli Mvubu, Omar Pellew, Clem Harrison, Bola Docemo, Demi Ajeigbe, Gary Hardy, Fraser Syme, Dan Masters, Silas Johnson, Timi Olopade, Tom Firth, David Semu, Josh Ferguson, Jonny Tolan.
