Results and Reports 16th December 2007
Wellingborough Old Grammarians under-17s 17 points, St Ives 36
On cold bright day, St Ives under-17s served up a Christmas feast for the travelling support with a very hard fought victory. Led from the front by the superb Dan Hyde, St Ives found themselves up against a much bigger and heavier pack. For the first ten minutes, they were under great pressure as OGs made good ground and had opportunities to score. But, the defence held firm.
With their first foray into the OG half, St Ives played with good continuity and with the forwards winning third phase possession, the ball went swiftly from scrum half Ali Geddes and through the hands of Matt Nice, James Wood and Adam Buttigieg to leave Tom Brown in space. A great dive for the line through despairing tackles gave Brown the try.
Back came OGs. St Ives scrum was under pressure, but in the front row, Sam Penney and loose head Matt Taylor were given support by second rows Doug Wilson and Josh Bennett to secure enough ball for Dan Breed to kick well and relieve the siege. Again, St Ives free running and quick recycling, with Simon Dunn prominent in the loose, released the ball for the backs to attack. This time, Buttigieg was the recipient on the outside and broke through to score.
OGs played the game again through their forwards, any backs possession being run to the pack. A penalty was conceded 5m out, and OGs bulldozed over.
Still, back came St Ives. With David Baker winning excellent line out ball from the returning Dan Geoghgan, St Ives drove on. From an attacking scrum, Breed and Nice executed a perfect catapult and Nice crashed over, Breed converting.
With time running out in the first half, OGs attempt to run the ball wide from a penalty ended in disaster when Dan Bainbridge snaffled an interception and sprinted through to score a fine individual try, converted by Breed. Half time 5-24.
From the restart, a superb gather by Baker, quick recycling and handling in the backs and sharp presentation resulted in Wood being left with a sprint for the line to score.
The rest of the second half was a much different affair, with OGs relying on forward driving power to claw their way back into the game. Only good defence, including No8s Mark Dominy and Ronan Delany, and some good defence on the wing by Greg Thurston, kept them out for long periods. But the pressure told and twice in quick succession, OG forwards, led ably by their excellent, foraging hooker, drove over to score.
However, the last word was with St Ives and Wood. Throwing caution to the wind, OGs tried to attack from deep, but the alert Wood raced up to intercept and score under the posts, converted by Breed. At the end of a tremendous performance St Ives ran out winners 17-36.