Stamford College Old Boys rugby round-up
Stamford College Old Boys played out a thrilling opening day encounter at Northampton Mens Own which ended with honours even after a 20-20 draw.
The Counties 3 Midlands East (South) game could have gone either way with both sides having their fair share of possession.
Mens Own applied the early pressure with their forwards running the ball and kicking for territory.
College answered back by being dominant in the scrum and lineout where Callum Fraser, Jamie Jenkins and Jonny Beall were putting the big hits in.
Mens Own were first on the scoresheet when they collected a loose ball from a lineout five metres out to score over the line. The try was then converted.
The College restart was successful as Tiago Rodrigues was able to compete and win the ball back.
Old Boys were awarded a penalty from the breakdown which Haydn Johns opted to kick for touch.
Sam Duncan was hitting the mark all afternoon and the ball was fed from the top of the lineout to Niles Prior who passed to Johns and he released Beall who ran deep into the Mens Own half.
He offloaded to Harry Bell who was brought down on the five metre line but Mens Own were able to clear their lines and put some phases together themselves and they played down to the College 22 where their fly half successfully kicked a drop goal.
Rodrigues was able to collect the restart again and it was now College applying the pressure to Mens Own.
The forwards were able to release Johns who created a gap in the backline to score and make it 10-5.
College's second try came almost straight after, this time from a scrum where Jenkins called the move and orchestrated the play.
Greenslade, Beall, Heath and Johns all combined and Brierley-Lewis scored in the corner to level the contest at 10-10.
The second half began with a boom as Beall hit his opposite number in a bone-crunching tackle.
This only ignited Mens Own as they made their way up the pitch and were awarded a penalty which the fly half converted for a 13-10 lead.
The rest of the game was end to end rugby with both teams competing well.
College were next on the scoresheet where Russ Polson scored his first try for the club as he used his strength to power through the Mens Own defence with Johns converting for a 13-17 advantage.
Johns wasn't finished there as he added a drop goal to make it 13-20 with 10 minutes to go.
Mens Own answered back with a try as their winger ran the ball back deep into the College half.
They were awarded a penalty which they opted for a scrum and their number eight picked and crashed over the line with their fly half converting to level the scores at 20-20 with three minutes to play.
Old Boys were unlucky on the last play of the game not to score as Mens Own appeared happy with a draw at the full time whistle.
College captain Jenkins said: "I have to say that it was a class performance.
"I was very proud of all the guys as we put on a dominant show."
Old Boys are back at Welland Academy on Saturday as they host a Luton side who beat South Leicester 73-17 in their opening league game.
Stamford won the battle of the second teams on Saturday as they defeated the College Old Boys 67-14 at Hambleton Road.
Old Boys were playing down the hill to begin with and the opening phases of the game saw Stamford use their pack to crash the ball up and unleash their fast backs.
College were fearless in the tackles with Dave Rogers, Ryan Whitmore, Tyler Houston and Sam Wilkinson putting in the early hits.
Stamford offloaded well in the tackle and this created gaps in the College defence and led to two early scores from the home side.
College began to put some phases together and made their way into the Stamford half only for the ball to be turned over and the hosts broke away and scored under the posts.
The visitors utilised their lineout well, from the penalties that were awarded due to the new laws this season.
Whitmore fed Flanders who released Coles and his back line saw Moore crashing the ball up.
College then used their forwards to suck Stamford in only for the ball to be knocked on in the next phase.
Old Boys did reap their rewards towards the end of the half as a scrum inside the Stamford 22 saw Durrant pick up from the base and run down the blind side and offload to Rogers who drew in the last defender and passed to Houston who didn’t have a problem crossing the line. Wilkinson converted the try.
The second half began with Durrant catching the restart and running the ball back up the pitch before being stopped by the Town midfield.
This was the spark that College needed and they worked well for 15 minutes being based in the Stamford half.
Stamford's defence were holding firm and keeping College in reach of the try line where Flanders dummied a pass onto the forward pack and created a gap for him to snipe through. Wilkinson again converted the try.
It wasn't to be College's day though as Stamford ran in some more tries, making it an impossible task for the visitors.
College were affected by injuries to Whitmore and Wilkinson which led to Ray Bates - who has been part of Old Boys' history for the last 50 years - making an appearance.
The Old Boys' second team travel to Boston on Saturday for their next Merit league fixture.
Man of the match was Sam Wilkinson.
