A Poor Second Half Display is costly for St Ives
St Ives 1XV vs. Huntingdon 2XV
St Ives travelled to Huntingdon this past Saturday for their first full game the 05/06 season. St Ives kicked off and immediately Ross Thompson provided a captains example of how the game was to be played. A crunching tackle on the receiver resulted in Huntingdon being on the back foot after only seconds of play. Huntingdon retained possession though and began to try and exert some pressure on the St Ives line. This was not to be the case though as strong tackling throughout the backs prevented any major attack from being formed.
St Ives gained possession and were beginning to look threatening with the ball in hand. The backs in particular were clinical with some of their lines of running and regularly sliced through the Huntingdon defence, unfortunately the St Ives pack were not quite as awake as the backs and were slow to the breakdown resulting in many an attack going to waste.
Huntingdon were the first to score though, an interception just past half way lead to a clear run into the corner, the conversion was missed. This seemed to jump start the St Ives pack who suddenly remembered how to ruck and support. Huntingdon were immediately on the back foot following the restart. The now marauding St Ives pack was successful in turning over possession and began to build an attack once again. Some sharp running from Jack Blackley and John Paxton saw St Ives break the Huntingdon line on numerous occasions. The good support from the forwards, in particular Pete Hammond and Bryan Richardson, eventually led to Matt Hazelwood crossing in the corner for St Ives’ first try of the game, Jack Blackley missed the conversion.
With the bit between their teeth, St Ives immediately launched another attack from the restart. Huntingdon managed to clear their lines with a kick to touch, but fine jumping from both Andy Grieve and Chris Morten throughout the game managed to regain possession for St Ives. Andy in particular enjoyed pilfering many a ball from the Huntingdon throw.
It was from a lineout that the second try was scored. A quick ball off the top from Chris Morten gave the backs the time they needed to frustrate the Huntingdon line again. Mike Sykes enjoyed a good game at fly half and provided the offload for James Cannon to crash over and score under the posts. Jack Blackley converted.
Again St Ives attacked straight from the restart and almost repeated that which had just passed. James Cannon again crashed through, but good last minute tackling prevented him crossing the line. It was obvious how this game was going to be won, the St Ives backs had full control and good passing provided the third try. Some good interlinking play between forwards and back again provided James Cannon with an easy run in to score. Jack Blackley missed the conversion.
The second half finished on a sour note, Huntingdon were forced to resort to uncontested scrums as their hooker landed awkwardly on his neck and was unable to continue, a blow for Huntingdon and also, surprisingly, for St Ives.
17 - 5 up at the break St Ives were definitely on the front foot. What happened in the second half still remains a mystery; the St Ives pack seemed to switch off completely and allowed Huntingdon to get back into the game. Despite the scrums being uncontested, the St Ives forwards seemed reluctant to carry on the fine support play seen at the end of the first half. This allowed Huntingdon back into the game, scoring a try mid way through the half and enjoying the majority of possession, the conversion was missed.
This still didn’t wake up the St Ives pack; it wasn’t until Huntingdon scored a second that St Ives remembered about the job in hand. Huntingdon’s second try came from a lineout catch a drive, their larger pack gaining the upper hand and driving over from close. The try was converted, bringing the score to 17 all.
With 15-20 minutes left to play, St Ives began to produce a forward display close to that of the first half. Unfortunately this was not translated into clean ball for the backs. Try as they might, the final move was not forthcoming, even some fine individual runs form Jack Blackley were repelled by the Huntingdon defence.
With seconds left to play Huntingdon broke away down the left hand side. A fine tackle form John Paxton stopped the attack but from the resulting ruck, St Ives were penalised for infringement. The Huntingdon kicker stepped up for the kick and had appeared to have put it wide, with the ball going very close to the outside post. The ref deemed it to be good though and blew up for time leaving the final score at: Huntingdon 20 – St Ives 17
Coach Mel Jessop rued this missed opportunity. After fine first half performance St Ives looked to be in for a handsome victory only to throw it away in the second period. There are positives to take from the game though. The backs have proved that they can be dangerous and the lineouts were excellent. We now have some areas to work on before next weekend’s cup game against Aylestone St James.
St Ives 2XV vs. St Neots 2XV
St Ives 2XV faced St Neots 2XV in the first game of their season in the East Midlands merit league. A young St Ives side faced an experienced St Neots team and held their own. Some excellent defence kept St Neots at bay and despite injuries to the St Ives pack, the forwards held their own too. Nick Crane scored St Ives’ only try of the game after a great passage of play which saw the ball pass through every pair of hands in the backs.
St Neots also scored one to even the scores at 5 – 5 . Man of the Match was Tim Lumley-Goode who was solid in the scrum throughout the game.