Exeter University IV 12
AECC RFC (BU 2nds) 29
AECC travelled to Exeter to commence their first ever campaign in the British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) League against a well-drilled Exeter outfit, who last week travelled to Glamorgan, winning 44-3. Though preparation time was short (the boys having to park the minibus and van on double yellows which was to later cost them two lots of £35), the Chiros looked ready from the off.
With lone travelling supporter Clive Hurkett cheering them on, the AECC got off to a fair start, with the talent level of the oppposition perhaps taking the chiros by surprise. When pinged for an infringment at the ruck on their own 10 metre line, the boys could only watch as the very talented Exeter fly-half sent the ball directly through the middle of the uprights. The Exeter ascendancy was not to last, however, as a clearly aggrieved AECC marched down the pitch for the one and only, the main man, the ginger ninja, your Student Union President, Tom "C4L" Waller to crash over for the College's maiden try in the university leagues.
Scrappy play in the breakdowns characterised the rest of the first half, never better illustrated than by Callum Forrest, or "The Enforcer" as he is now known, due to his "no-nonsense" approach to the dark arts of rugby union. Also worth a mention in the breakdown area is Ben Rutter, a recruit from Bournemouth University, making his debut for the AECC. A penalty from a Forrest, er, let's say 'transgression' led to the inevitable bisecting of the H and a halftime 6-5 lead for Exeter.
After the break, the Chiros found some go-forward, chiefly in the shape of No.8 Mike Richards breaking from the scrum. It was an offload from one of these that led to the Chiros' second try, this time scrum-half and new captain Matthew Bateman crossing against his former university. A Jon Coller conversion took the score to 12-6.
Some questionable decision making from the boys let Exeter back into the game in the ensuing 10 minutes. Some notably atrocious kicking from Joe Frost, some subpar contributions from the otherwise flawless Jon Coller and a frankly ridiculous chip and chase from President Barack Waller combined with some poorly selected offloads to send the AECC charges back 30 metres at a time. The inevitable infringements enabled Exeter to all-too-predictably kick 6 more points to level the game.
These were to be the last points Exeter would score. The Chiros seemed to screw their heads on, and some good pressure in the Exeter 22 led to a simple penalty oppportunity for Jon Coller. 15-12. It didn't take long for our heroes to work thier way back down to the Exeter redzone, and some good forward work allowed Jon Coller to jump on the pick-and-go bandwagon to dive underneath the posts, converting his own try.
With a ten point cushion, the psychological edge was now with the AECC. With pressure on Exeter at scrums and lineouts, their only outlet was their clutch kicker in the 10 shirt. This was not to be enough though, and more pressure and an offload from Mike Richards allowed man of the match rookie mofo Alex "The" Horne to cross for the bonus point try to seal the game.
With only a few minutes remaining, most people were happy to run the clock down and finish the game. Not Callum Forrest. Why would he? Not when he can get sin binned. The referee had "had enough" of Forrest's antics when he brandished a completely pointless yellow card to poor Big C as the game's last act. Still though, it's a "W" in the results column and we're still unbeaten this season!
Dick of the day went to Barack for his stupid boot to ball tomfoolery, honourable mentions go to Frosty, Callum and Tommy Dizzle. Man of the match was the carthorse Alex Horne, closely run by Dean Matthews and Jon Coller.
AECC: Coller, Donaldson, Tottle, Ryan, Davis, Frost, Bateman, Richards, Le Roux, Matthews, Forrest, Horne, Brown, Waller Rutter. Subs: Falco, Jaskulski, Marillier, Beaven
AECC RFC: Not at all bad for a touch team lol xx
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