Great fightback undone against the elements

In a reversal of recent weeks, St Ives were undone by a poor start. As one of the opposition players said after the match, “We were happy you were still in the changing room for the first 10”.
Indeed, from the first lineout of the game, Casuals turned the ball over and simple hands saw the Ives defensive line stand off and allow the ball carriers room to run. Only one pass close to contact was needed to see Casuals score behind the posts.
The next few minutes saw Ives trying to get some structure into their game. But, a lost ball in midfield saw Casuals run directly at the still somnambulant Ives defence. This time, both close in tackles and backline frailties were exposed. The Bulls found themselves 12-0 down in 7 minutes.
Having been shaken hard and thus woken up to the potential drubbing, Ives found their feet, territory and their game plan.
The warmly welcomed Paul Ashbridge, returning for his first match after a knee reconstruction, pinned Casuals back with some decent box kicks. Up front novice back rower Ross Thomson, in form No.8 Matt Wood and the newest addition to first team honours Tom Evans, who had a fine debut at breakaway, worked hard to keep momentum.
Bullocking runs by Duncan Williams and “Lurchy” Luke Myers made inroads.
Casuals were under pressure and conceded multiple penalties. Skipper Josh Dear chose to scrummage, knowing that his supporting front rowers Tim Lumley-Good and Stuart James would help drive the home side back. After three such scrums, the ball was sent wide, well recycled and Thompson was on hand to drive over for his first of the season. Jim Robinson slotted a superb conversion from wide out in the buffeting wind.
Great continuity between forwards and backs saw Ives progress deep into Casuals’ territory again. Resistance was finally broken as Lurchy Myers broke free and powered over to score. By 5pm the sprint was at least 80m. Robinson converted from close in.
Ives were back in the game and started the second half well. Half breaks by Ashbridge, Williams and Thompson gained ground. Once again, Casuals offended at the break down. Robinson stepped up to stretch the lead to 5 points.
Unfortunately for the visitors, a run from defence led to a Bulls player being isolated. Attempting to recover the situation, a penalty in front was conceded and the game was back in the balance.
A combination of missing a relieving touch find and defensive frailty finally cost Ives dear. Getting the ball to the fresh winger, Midnight, he calmly jogged down the wing, stepping a couple of Ives players and scored the winning try.
Casuals went for the kill, but thumping tackles by Greg Dale kept them at bay.
Attempting to wrest the match back, Ives offended once more and Casuals kicked a penalty to take the bonus point away from the Bulls.
On the final whistle, a long range penalty effort to regain the point went agonisingly millimetres under the cross bar.
Skipper Dear was left to rue the early minutes, stating, “As soon as we got ourselves together we showed how we could and should have won the game. We shall take our frustrations out on visiting Old Newtonians next week.”