St Ives Rugby Club - Match Report

Results and Reports 23rd October 2005

Under 8’s vs Peterborough

St. Ives 4, Peterborough 2.

An excellent display of running, tagging and support play by St. Ives who opened the scoring when Peter Ford pounced on a dropped pass and ran half the length of the pitch. Shortly afterwards sustained possession by St. Ives led to Jake Bowen wrong-footing the defence and scoring. Just before half time George Smith made a jinking run and linked with Peter Ford who sprinted over the line. The second half saw St. Ives keep up the pressure, not least with some piercing runs by George Smith, until shortly before the end Jake Bowen made a diagonal run right across the field to score in the corner.

St. Ives 6, Ely 4.

Ely were looking to avenge their defeat to St. Ives in the Cambs. Cup last Sunday. St. Ives were quicker to respond when Jake Bowen made a jinking run and Peter Ford supported and scored in the corner. The visitors pressed back but St. Ives defended strongly, until Max Darer scored in the corner to put St. Ives further ahead. Ely equalised straight away, but St. Ives responded with a good run by Jake Bowen supported by Max Darer who crossed the field to score and restore the lead. Ely responded with an equaliser, followed by another try by Jake Bowen. From the restart Peter Ford zigzagged through the Ely team to score, and James Digby ran half the length of the pitch to score his first of the day.

St. Ives 6, Peterborough 6

Despite this being St. Ives’ third match in quick succession their players responded well. Despite Peterborough opening the score, St. Ives fought back through Jake Bowen who was well positioned to score after a good run by James Digby. George Smith made a great run straight through the opposition to equalise for St. Ives. The now tired St. Ives players dug in; Ross Meagher made a good run and passed to James Digby short of the line with but Max Darer on hand to score. A terrific effort down the wing by Max Darer put St. Ives in front by the break. St. Ives continued this run at the restart, Samuel Cox making a strong run , passing to Peter Ford who scored. Peterborough scored twice to equalize, but strong running, passing and support play helped George move St. Ives ahead before Peterborough leveled at the end.

Under 7’s vs Peterborough

St. Ives Blues 4 v 7 Peterborough

Despite good tagging by William Rolt, three quick tries by Peterborough went unanswered until Zac Ling received the ball and outpaced the defence for a great try. With Peterborough having regained their three try advantage, it was left to William Rolt with a mazy run to narrow the gap at half time. The second half started well when Charlie Bowen weaved his way over to bring St. Ives within a score. This was the closest that St. Ives got, despite good tagging from the team.

St. Ives Browns 8 v 5 Ely

St. Ives quickly scored five unanswered tries from Daniel Hudson, Cullen Smy, Simon Carter and Harry Spittle(2) tries due to excellent running, support and pressuring the opposition to make mistakes. Strong performances in the first half were rounded off by superb tries by Thomas Johnson (2) and Cullen Smy.

St. Ives Blues 6 v 2 Ely

Tommy McCarthy made a powerful run, only to be tagged just short of the try line; however the return pass from George Peacock allowed him to charge over and give St. Ives the lead. Tommy McCarthy quickly scored again after he skipped inside the defence. Zac Ling then picked up a loose ball and outstripped the defence. Further good defence led to Ben Fleming claiming a loose ball and running clear for a four try advantage. The second half saw Tommy McCarthy claim his third try after a pass from Christopher Duma and Zac Ling scored again. Great defence from Ben Fleming and Daniel Purver kept Ely out.

St. Ives Browns 2 v 4 Peterborough

Peterborough opened the scoring despite stout defending from St. Ives. A Thomas Johnson run allowed St. Ives to retain possession and Cullen Smy tied the scores with great run. Strong defence by Simon Carter fended of the visitors and more fine runs from Thomas Johnson and Harry Spittle gave hope for the second half when Cullen Smy brought St. Ives back to within a try. Despite some good runs from Simon, Oliver Naylor, Bradley Herbert and Sam Tuckwood, they couldn’t find a way through.

St Ives U11s vs Peterborough

The first of two encounters saw a tense match between two well-matched sides with Peterborough defending for most of the match. The forwards worked well as a unit with Tom Woodrow winning lineouts and Tom Mount tackling hard. Eventually scrum-half Tom Rockall went over for a well deserved converted try and a 7-0 win for St Ives.

The second match was again hard fought but eventually the St Ives forwards overpowered Peterborough with tries by Jack Day, Tom Mount and Jacob Milner and a lone try from back Greg Dale. All the tries were successfully converted by Innes Christison, resulting in a 28-0 victory.

St Ives U12s vs Peterborough vs Ely

In the first game St Ives under 12’s battled hard against a very strong Peterborough side. In previous encounters Peterborough dominated in the forward but St Ives were determined not to let them take control and from the outset the boys matched them in all areas of play. There were some good breaks from both sides with good use of the back lines stopped only with some strong tackling. St Ives defence was breached only twice in what turned out to be a closely fought match which ended 14 – 0.

As with Peterborough, Ely proved to be very strong and worthy opponents but the home side took the play to Ely forcing them on the back foot through a combination of backs and forwards only to be thwarted by some good tackling. St Ives continued the assault but Ely continued to tackle. Both sides battled hard throughout the game with some free flowing entertaining rugby to earn a worthwhile draw.

Under 15s vs. Peterborough

St. Ives 8 - Peterborough 7

In a hugely entertaining match, for which much credit must go to referee Chris Rowan, the home side held on to defeat the visitors by a single point. Encouraged by their coaches to start the game at full tilt, the Saints forwards, for whom Simon Dunn excelled on the open side, did just that. A defensive Peterborough scrum was taken against the head by Dan Geoghan, swiftly passed for Dan Bainbridge to break, feeding Tom Brown to barge over for a fine team try.

Peterborough were not to be outdone and their aggressive rucking finally brought reward. St. Ives conceded a penalty which was smartly taken leading to a converted try for Peterborough .

St Ives received further motivational words and realised that they could out-ruck their bigger opponents. Their pressure told, with Dan Breed slotting a superb penalty from a Peterborough infringement to re-take the lead on the stroke of half time.