St Ives vs. Aylestone St James
Saturday saw St Ives travel to Leicester to face joint leaders Aylestone St James. The squad is rather depleted at the moment through injuries, so St Ives were forced to travel with a side that had not played much together but the guys rallied together and put in a fine performance that did not deserve the final scorline.
The game was, as expected, a tough bruising encounter. Jimmies have got one of the larger packs in the league and enjoy to boss their opposition in the tight, but the St Ives pack stood up to the challenge and dominated most areas of the field in the tight. The scrummaging from the Bulls was as solid as it has been, despite changes to the front row, and the welcome back of veteran Jon Clarke to the 2nd row did not hinder the strength in that department. It was fitness that cost St Ives the match though, for the majority of the first half the Bulls were on defensive duties and despite an admirable performance for many phases of play, the relentless attacks eventually paid off for the home side. Two tries were scored in this fashion, and a third came from an interception by the flanker, only one was converted though and St Ives went into the break 17-0 down.
The second half told a different story, the home side were looking to tire whilst St Ives seemed to up the pressure, unfortunately the squad did not gel as much as was hoped and the inexperience of not playing together eventually began to shine through. St Ives had the opportunities to put points on the board, but it was a case of the final pass not going to hand, or a knock on at the crucial moment. In spite of this St Ives never gave up and fought on to the end, Jimmies did manage a 4th unconverted try out wide through a good period of sustained pressure which brought the final score to 22-0.
Speaking after the game Ross Thompson was proud of the players performance. It is disappointing to not register a score against this team, we definitely had the chances in the game but I am happy with how the guys performed out there today. The front row performed admirably and the back row made a nuisance of themselves all game. The backline were excellent in defence but unfortunately it was the teams attacking prowess that let us down today. We need to regroup now and look to next weekends home game against Stamford, we need to take points from that fixture and I am confident that we will do.