Results and Reports 18th February 2007
St. Ives 26 - Biggleswade 25
Saints were able to return to home action this weekend, with the under 15s playing host to their counterparts from Biggleswade RFC in amongst the many "minis" teams playing at Somersham Road on Sunday. A good crowd of enthusiastic and vocal supporters from both sides was treated to an excellent game of rugby, played with great heart and spirit throughout.
Playing down the slope, Biggleswade started strongly and had the home side needing to defend inside their own twenty-two. With the ball moved between the backs and forwards, the visitors drove over to take the lead. St. Ives responded well, with Matt Bligh making some excellent breaks through the centre, which sent the visitor's defence in to disarray. From a controlled scrum Liam Cooke received the ball on the blind side and forced his way over in the corner to level the scores. Once again the visitors worked good combinations, with the forwards providing ball for the backs to score a try that was successfully converted. Both sides contested in both loose and set-piece play. From a line-out drive the Biggleswade back row broke off in a well-executed move to increase the lead by another try, making the half-time score 5-17.
The second half saw St. Ives in determined mood and from an early scrum the ball was moved to the backs. Andrew Howard broke the line and passed wide to Tino Zicchi, who out-paced the defence to score, Howard added the conversion. The hosts were now gaining the upper hand in the scrum and it was the visitors who had to defend against a barrage of attacks. A penalty for "holding on" was quickly taken by St. Ives captain Tom Mulqueen, the ball moved quickly through the backs with Matt Bligh bursting through to score under the posts. Howard added the extras; 19-17. However, Biggleswade rallied again and pushed forward. They opted to kick for goal from a penalty a good 35m out and were rewarded with the points from a superb kick, putting them back in the lead. Once again the home side drove deep in to their opponents territory but the Biggleswade defence held firm. Saints were then able to disrupt a defensive scrum and with the ball being hacked about loosely; Bligh seized the opportunity to gather and dive over to put the hosts back in front. Once again Howard's trusty boot added the conversion. From the restart Biggleswade pressured the St. Ives defence and set up a good field position. Desperate tackles kept the visitors out, but eventually they forced their way over. With time running out, the Biggleswade kicker looked on in dismay as his excellent attempted conversion from out wide bounced back off the upright. Saints again took the ball back deep in to opposition territory and the final whistle went with the visitors kicking to touch inside their own 22.
This was a great performance from two teams playing with passion and commitment. St. Ives team manager Andy Britton was delighted with the character shown by his entire squad in grinding out a hard-fought victory.
St. Ives man-of-the match was Andrew Howard for an impressive all-round performance.
Ely 17 - St Ives 22
Having been on the wrong end of two recent close defeats, St Ives bounced back to win one of their own against local rivals Ely. Playing against the elements in the first half, St Ives forwards started strongly and won good ball for a series of rapier-like forays by the backs. Ely defended stoutly but could do nothing when James Wood found himself with space and forced his way over the line for a wel deserved try, which went unconverted.
The malaise which was to continue throughout the match then struck, when a dropped pass gifted possession to Ely. A series of runs ended with Ely's stand off, who had a very good match, ending a move with a try in the corner.
St Ives once again played with purpose and, despite again losing possession a number of times in the backs, eventually managed to free Steve Hehir to sprint around the cover defence and score under the posts. Dan Breed, on his second comeback match after serious injury, added the conversion.
Ely now tries to unsettle the St Ives defence with a number of garryowens, but Tom Brown fielded everything that was thrown at him. Then, with all other players in front of him, he caught one punt and sprinted upfield before releasing Matt Nice to score another unconverted try.
Half time 5-17.
Special mention must be made of St Ives players Tom Dowding and Stuart Topping who ensured conitinuation of a full blooded encounter by turning out for Ely as they were short handed.
Immediately after half time, Ely fought up the hill and poor defence by St Ives allowed the Ely stand-off to dance through and score untouched.
There then followed a series of attacks by St Ives which could and should have resulted in a number of tries. However, many dropped passes meant that, St Ives could not add to their score until Dan Bainbridge crossed in the corner.
Having been starved of possession for much of the mach, Ely then had their best passage of play. Only superb foraging by amongst others man-of-the-match Simon Dunn, kept Ely out. Ely were to have the final say, when the stand of crossed for his hattrick, which he converted himself.