17th October 2009
Anchorians II 16 Lordswood II 8
This was always going to be one of the toughest fixtures of the season and Anchorians went into this game with a very different side to last week’s team.
The game started as expected with a few niggles coming in from both sides, probably not helped by the fast pace that the game was being played at. Within the first 10 minutes of the game Anchorians gave away a penalty and Lordswood took the opportunity to points on the board and the home side went up 3 -0. The score stayed like this for the rest of the 1st half even though great running from players such as Dan Begley and Chris Everet created opportunities that saw Anch’s crossing the line 3 times only to be held up by the Lordswood solid defence each time. In the 1st half Lordswood were constantly attacking and causing Anch’s problems but never really looked like scoring.
Within 5 minutes of the 2nd half Lordswood brought on a substitute at no.8 who came on and made a difference to the Lordswood attack straight away. After a scrum he picked up and ran half the pitch before he was stopped by Anch’s fullback Rocky although he slipped a ball inside to a supporting runner who scored Lordswood only try. This only served to push Anch’s into taking control of their game and putting more pressure on the opposition. Dan Begley constantly posed a threat to Lordswood with his awesome runs straight into the gaps around the defence. And with Alex Winter & Mark Pike controlling the game superbly Anch’s game started to take shape. It was at this point that Anch’s powerful pack started a rolling maul towards the try line and this time the defence couldn’t hold them up. Carl Cooper emerged from the bottom with his hands on the ball claiming the try although it has to be said he had some assistance from Eimon Grieves. Mark Pike stepped up and used his ‘boot’ to convert and made the score 8 – 7 to the home side. Some interesting decisions during the game gave Anch’s the opportunity to scrummage and with the pack performing brilliantly this wasn’t going to be a problem. Ernie Lang was stealing the opposition’s ball almost at will and the 2nd row of Ashley Mosdale and Dan Barker made the scrum a solid weapon. This time Lordswood gave away a penalty and Mark Pike stepped up to give Anch’s the well deserved lead. Anch’s seemed to sense at this point that the win was within reach and stepped up another gear. Anch’s kept up the pressure and With Begley producing holes it was only a matter of time before more points came our way. They came from a back of a scrum where Alex winter spun the ball out and Mark Pike took a drop goal which sailed through the middle of the posts beautifully. Then with only another 10 minutes on the clock another strong scrum gave the Anch’s backs a chance to strike and a crash ball taken in by captain Dishman was well presented to the forwards who drove it on again before it was spun out To Mark Pike who again dropped a goal to seal the game. Anch’s kept the ball tight for the last 5 minutes and managed to keep Lordswood from scoring anymore.
Dan Begley was man of the match today for his outstanding aggressive play although it was a close decision considering Mark Pikes ability to control the game as well as scoring 11 points.
Anchorians II are at home to Maidstone next week and this will also be another hard match for them.