Plymouth University 2nd XV 10
AECC RFC 35
The AECC team travelled to Plymouth looking to take another step closer to promotion, however a lack of strength in depth can be a real pain in the you-know-what come exam time. Some last minute jiggery-pokery ensured that the Chiros could field a full 15, but this included newcomers Rhys Edwards, Brendan Bignell, Ryan Singer (all from Bournemouth University) and the unknown quantity of Tom Pooley in the second row.
So it was with trepidation and some confusion that the boys warmed up, and with even Man of Steel Joe Frost reporting that he didn't feel much of a "buzz" before the game, no-one could have predicted the onslaught that followed the opening kickoff. Almost immediately, Plymouth transgressed in their own 22, leading to a penalty chance for the Chiros, which Matt Bateman confidently slotted to give the visitors an early lead. A touchfindign kick from Plymouth from the resulting restart gave the Chiros a lineout on halfway. A Mick Richards break from the back of the maul went throught he hands of Bateman and Frost, with some good phase play following, finally ending in Alex Horne cutting a fantastic line, scything open the stunned Plymouth defence and touching down underneath the posts. Matt Bateman converted to make it 10-0.
A minor blip in the game plan came when Kev Mariliier, who had very kindly taken time out of learning to drive to play, miscued a kick not far from his own line. Quick-thinking Alex Horne jumped on the grenade from an offside position, presumably asserting that 3 points lost is better than 7. The score stood at 10-3, but the Chiros smelt blood, and immediately were back in the swing of things. Horne, who seemed to be at the heart of all things offensive (lol) grabbed his second try with some more impressive running, leaving the Plymouth defence for dead once again. Another Bateman conversion made it 17-3.
Another Bateman penalty which ricocheted over off the inside of the posts (to be fair, it was from 40 metres out) increased the Chiro lead. What looked like a sure Chiro penalty in the Plymouth 22 was then downgraded to a scrum (we imagine) due in part to Bateman's generous use of his lower limb appendage in attempting to move an oppposition player who had positioned himself on a foolish side of the ball. This was to be of no benefit to Plymouth, though, as a Joe Frost dummy line round the back of the scrum dragged two players and left a simple 8-9-12-13-15-14 move (that old chestnut!) as the obvious choice for Ryan Singer to touch down on debut in the corner. From the touchline, the impressive Bateman then missed his only kcik attempt of the day. The only action remaining in the half was another fantastically struck Bateman penaltywhere the 10 metre line met the 15, giving the AECC a virtually unassailable 28-3 halftime lead.
With the benefit of having spare players on the sideline becoming apparent, Plymouth were able to somewhat stem the tide of Chiro scoring in the second stanza. Some very tidy interplay from Richards and Horne led to Horne making it over the tryline, but was adjudged to have knocked the ball on in the process by the referee, denying Horne his hat-trick. Later in the the half, Dylan Ryan finished what Horne had started, calling an odd move but somehow ending up underneath the posts, making it easy for Bateman to maintain his excellent record with the boot.
Plymouth, though timid, were not without their good points, and some very good phase play late in the second half eventaully gave them the chance to run round (not through!) the AECC defence and dot down in the corner, even converting the try from the resulting narrow angle.
The game finished 35-10, with a huge feeling of pride ringing round the changing room, and on the bus on the way back as the boys indulged in a club-sponsored lubrication exercise. Read into that what you will.
When asked for a quote, coach Joe Frost said "Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine". I think he may have missed the point, but it's a nice quote nonetheless.
Man of the match and Dick of the Day both went to Alex Horne, which begs the question: was he outstandingly rubbish or rubbishly outstanding? In reality, he was punished for his failure to score (not a new phenomenon), and just pipped Matt Bateman as the standout player throughout the eighty minutes. Let's hope he doesn't lose the clothes that Clvie's nan knitted for the Action Man.
Big hands go to - well, just about everyone, especially our new team-mates and Bournemouth Uni, who provided five players this week. The last time I was this excited, I wrote a list...
Stroon - The ever-improving Broon has contributed more and more. Could not have picked a better moment to have his best game in an AECC shirt.
Brendan - unknown quantity who shone in attack. More than welcome back anytime.
Rhys - Another stranger who turned out to be really quite a good player. You're about for three more years, you say?
Beau - Just the man you want to make your hard yards AND do his share and more of the donkey work. Sorry you were in the second row, mate!
Pooley - Not a bad debut for someone who hasn't played rugby for a while. Excellent, in fact.
Horne - Excellent all round.
Cheggers Pegna - At one point I was sure there were two of him, because he was everywhere. But there's only one Cheggers!
Mick - Big rumbly dude did lost of big rumbly things. And an interception, which was weird.
Bateman - It's great having a second openside flanker playing scrum-half who can kick points and.... well, all the rest. Fantastic.
Frosty - Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay to Frosty is that he had a thooughly typical game. Typical for Frosty obviously being very, very good.
Dom - It can be daunting on the wing when you're new to rugby, though nothing seems to daunt Dom. In at the deep end again, Dom proved himself to be a very confident breaststroker. Wahey!
Ryan - Another week, another "brick wall" performance from Allan Ryan. Superb.
Clive - I don't know why last week's man of the match keeps surprising me with good performances, I should be used to him being a good player by now. Even if he is always playing out of position.
Singer - Solid in defence, scored a try in attack, what more can you ask from someone you've never seen play rugby?
Kev - If he's not been playing for us, I want to know where Kev's been playing - not only has he not missed a beat, he seems to have improved....
We're now 6 points clear at the top of the table, two games to go. Played 9, won 9. Whisper it...
AECC RFC: Not bad for a scratch side
AECC RFC 35
The AECC team travelled to Plymouth looking to take another step closer to promotion, however a lack of strength in depth can be a real pain in the you-know-what come exam time. Some last minute jiggery-pokery ensured that the Chiros could field a full 15, but this included newcomers Rhys Edwards, Brendan Bignell, Ryan Singer (all from Bournemouth University) and the unknown quantity of Tom Pooley in the second row.
So it was with trepidation and some confusion that the boys warmed up, and with even Man of Steel Joe Frost reporting that he didn't feel much of a "buzz" before the game, no-one could have predicted the onslaught that followed the opening kickoff. Almost immediately, Plymouth transgressed in their own 22, leading to a penalty chance for the Chiros, which Matt Bateman confidently slotted to give the visitors an early lead. A touchfindign kick from Plymouth from the resulting restart gave the Chiros a lineout on halfway. A Mick Richards break from the back of the maul went throught he hands of Bateman and Frost, with some good phase play following, finally ending in Alex Horne cutting a fantastic line, scything open the stunned Plymouth defence and touching down underneath the posts. Matt Bateman converted to make it 10-0.
A minor blip in the game plan came when Kev Mariliier, who had very kindly taken time out of learning to drive to play, miscued a kick not far from his own line. Quick-thinking Alex Horne jumped on the grenade from an offside position, presumably asserting that 3 points lost is better than 7. The score stood at 10-3, but the Chiros smelt blood, and immediately were back in the swing of things. Horne, who seemed to be at the heart of all things offensive (lol) grabbed his second try with some more impressive running, leaving the Plymouth defence for dead once again. Another Bateman conversion made it 17-3.
Another Bateman penalty which ricocheted over off the inside of the posts (to be fair, it was from 40 metres out) increased the Chiro lead. What looked like a sure Chiro penalty in the Plymouth 22 was then downgraded to a scrum (we imagine) due in part to Bateman's generous use of his lower limb appendage in attempting to move an oppposition player who had positioned himself on a foolish side of the ball. This was to be of no benefit to Plymouth, though, as a Joe Frost dummy line round the back of the scrum dragged two players and left a simple 8-9-12-13-15-14 move (that old chestnut!) as the obvious choice for Ryan Singer to touch down on debut in the corner. From the touchline, the impressive Bateman then missed his only kcik attempt of the day. The only action remaining in the half was another fantastically struck Bateman penaltywhere the 10 metre line met the 15, giving the AECC a virtually unassailable 28-3 halftime lead.
With the benefit of having spare players on the sideline becoming apparent, Plymouth were able to somewhat stem the tide of Chiro scoring in the second stanza. Some very tidy interplay from Richards and Horne led to Horne making it over the tryline, but was adjudged to have knocked the ball on in the process by the referee, denying Horne his hat-trick. Later in the the half, Dylan Ryan finished what Horne had started, calling an odd move but somehow ending up underneath the posts, making it easy for Bateman to maintain his excellent record with the boot.
Plymouth, though timid, were not without their good points, and some very good phase play late in the second half eventaully gave them the chance to run round (not through!) the AECC defence and dot down in the corner, even converting the try from the resulting narrow angle.
The game finished 35-10, with a huge feeling of pride ringing round the changing room, and on the bus on the way back as the boys indulged in a club-sponsored lubrication exercise. Read into that what you will.
When asked for a quote, coach Joe Frost said "Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine". I think he may have missed the point, but it's a nice quote nonetheless.
Man of the match and Dick of the Day both went to Alex Horne, which begs the question: was he outstandingly rubbish or rubbishly outstanding? In reality, he was punished for his failure to score (not a new phenomenon), and just pipped Matt Bateman as the standout player throughout the eighty minutes. Let's hope he doesn't lose the clothes that Clvie's nan knitted for the Action Man.
Big hands go to - well, just about everyone, especially our new team-mates and Bournemouth Uni, who provided five players this week. The last time I was this excited, I wrote a list...
Stroon - The ever-improving Broon has contributed more and more. Could not have picked a better moment to have his best game in an AECC shirt.
Brendan - unknown quantity who shone in attack. More than welcome back anytime.
Rhys - Another stranger who turned out to be really quite a good player. You're about for three more years, you say?
Beau - Just the man you want to make your hard yards AND do his share and more of the donkey work. Sorry you were in the second row, mate!
Pooley - Not a bad debut for someone who hasn't played rugby for a while. Excellent, in fact.
Horne - Excellent all round.
Cheggers Pegna - At one point I was sure there were two of him, because he was everywhere. But there's only one Cheggers!
Mick - Big rumbly dude did lost of big rumbly things. And an interception, which was weird.
Bateman - It's great having a second openside flanker playing scrum-half who can kick points and.... well, all the rest. Fantastic.
Frosty - Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay to Frosty is that he had a thooughly typical game. Typical for Frosty obviously being very, very good.
Dom - It can be daunting on the wing when you're new to rugby, though nothing seems to daunt Dom. In at the deep end again, Dom proved himself to be a very confident breaststroker. Wahey!
Ryan - Another week, another "brick wall" performance from Allan Ryan. Superb.
Clive - I don't know why last week's man of the match keeps surprising me with good performances, I should be used to him being a good player by now. Even if he is always playing out of position.
Singer - Solid in defence, scored a try in attack, what more can you ask from someone you've never seen play rugby?
Kev - If he's not been playing for us, I want to know where Kev's been playing - not only has he not missed a beat, he seems to have improved....
We're now 6 points clear at the top of the table, two games to go. Played 9, won 9. Whisper it...
AECC RFC: Not bad for a scratch side
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