Bulls overcome all obstacles and win, claiming promotion

One might be forgiven for thinking the stars were misaligned for St. Ives prior to kick off. A motorway accident held up many of the travelling players, the kick off time was altered at the last minute and early injuries disrupted the team.
The resilience and character of the squad was much in evidence, however, and a hard fought victory against a motivated Stockwood Park ensued.
With already seven changes from the previous week, two positional, the Ives had trained hard during the week to ensure the team could maintain its momentum. With both sides attempting to play with ball in hand, the early exchanges saw Stockwood mount an attack from inside their own half.
Unfortunately for them, the ball went loose in midfield. John Naylor, standing in at 10 in the absence of Mickey Drake who spent the day getting hitched, snaffled the loose ball. Ever present Ollie Raine was on his shoulder and sprinted 40 metres to score the games’ first try. Naylor converted.
In the build-up, Matt Wood had taken a knock and left the field to be replaced by evergreen Ross Thompson, who ended up playing about an hour longer than he perhaps expected.
Shortly afterwards, Stuart Cornwell was also incapacitated and was replaced by Adam Scott, bringing a reshuffle up front, but the transitions were seamless as Thompson and Scott fitted in. Both those leaving the field will face an anxious few days building up to next weeks’ national Senior Vase semi.
Ives were playing well and putting the hosts under pressure. Strong midfield running by Alex Henly and Pete Fahey was gaining ground. The back row of Raine, skipper Ollie Bartlett and Josh Meadows were pressuring the breakdown. Park stepped offside to offer up a long range penalty attempt, but it slipped just wide.
The second quarter saw Park step up a gear. Direct running by their big midfield players meant they camped in the Ives half. The Bulls line speed was causing the hosts to attempt long passes to the wings and on numerous occasions chances went begging as the ball went to ground.
Pressure finally told on the half hour as a break saw the winger go in in the right hand corner. Unconverted.
Just before the half was over, Naylor and Raine once again combined after a run from defence by the returning Will Nelson. The home side conceded a penalty and a quick tap saw Raine away again, only for a last ditch tackle to knock the ball from his grasp.
Half time 5-7
With ball protection in mind from the half time chat, Ives began the second half well. A multiple series of phases from the kick off, with more or less 1 to 15 involved, saw them reach the opposition 5 metre line only to concede a penalty.
Ives kept up the pressure and mounted another series of attacks. Wingers Ben Fleming and Albiee Tayedzerwa were running the ball back hard at the home defence. As the opposition appeared to tire, Duncan Williams was in his element crashing through weak arms to make ground up the slope.
Greg Dale, having his first game at 9 for many months, was having a fine game, keeping the quick possession moving and sniping to gain advantage.
Despite all the endeavour, Ives could not breach the Park defence. Another penalty concession saw the hosts bang the ball downfield. From their first attack of the half they punched through the midfield and whipped the ball to the left winger who scored in the corner. The kicker struck an excellent conversion from the touchline to make the score 12-7 as the game entered its final quarter.
This was the period in which the mentality and mettle of St. Ives was displayed. Sticking to practised plans, they battered the home defence. A series of plays from their own half once again, which lasted all of 4 minutes demonstrating great patience, took them to within sight of the line. Again a penalty offered Park relief.
But, from the lineout Ives regained possession as Bartlett soared to steal the ball. Another fine period of continuous possession saw Ives stretch Park one way then the other. Eventually, after a quickly taken penalty, the defence parted like the Red Sea for a grateful Williams to skip over under the posts. Naylor duly converted to retake the lead.
There followed a period of superb defence by the Bulls. Despite carrying a knock, Dan Hyde was everywhere making thumping tackles. The blue line held firm as the host visibly tired. As the final whistle went, both sides were clearly exhausted, but could reflect on a closely fought game played in great spirit. Special mention for Stuart James who anchored the scrum well in his first 80 minute run out since knee surgery.
As the players relaxed in the bar post-match, the results from other games came in. With their nearest challengers Casuals losing at Leicester Forest, promotion is assured. The Club song burst forth.
Coach Brown was a happy man. “Whilst we are all very excited to look forward to the National Senior Vase semi-final next week, promotion has been the aim since before the season started. It is an outstanding achievement. The Club is very proud of this group of players and what the entire squad has contributed. The character shown by those in the shirt today was immense. Next target is to secure the championship. After the semi, of course!”