St Ives vs. Aylestone St James
St Ives 1XV travelled to Leicester to face Aylestone St James in the first round of the Powergen Junior Vase. From the start St Ives realised that this was going to be a very long afternoon, Aylestone St James (the Jimmies) were fielding a very large pack and made their intentions clear in the very first scrum of the game, driving St Ives back off their own ball.
Despite this St Ives managed to hold the Jimmies attacks with a good display of defence, including a period of 10 minutes where they played with 14 men due to captain Ross Thompson being sin binned. Jimmies' forward domination eventually paid off though and they opened their account following a number of driving mauls, sucking in the resilient St Ives defence.
With the Jimmies repeatedly winning ball against the head, the St Ives back line received very little ball to play with and the match became one of tackling practice, and against the large pack, the sustained pressure was always going to win. What ball they did receive they used well, but unfortunately the final pass never came off, usually resulting in another scrum to the Jimmies delight. Aylestone St James managed to score a number of tries, mainly through their forwards, sapping the remaining strength from the St Ives pack.
The second half did produce some periods of sustained pressure from the St Ives team, and they regularly forced the error from the Jimmies back line. But with their pack dominating as they did, St Ives were unable to convert the pressure into points. The game finally ended with Aylestone St James driving St Ives off their own ball at a 5 metre scrum, providing an easy try for the flanker.
Final Score: Aylestone St James 40 - St Ives 0
Next week sees St Ives 1XV travel to Kibworth for their first league game, with the 2XV facing Sharbrook at home and the Old Bulls in the Pool.