Walcot II Vs Gordano II

Gordano seconds had yet to register a win in 2015. And once again were let down by a large number of cry offs before kick off. Gordano II had to move players about as Seb Harding had two broken fingers and due to cry offs found himself having to start on the wing which brought Neal Foster into the centres after only ever playing 6 games of rugby out on the wing. Andrew Coles found himself playing Hooker with Nino Toto moving to second row.

Gordano turned up to a very blustery Walcot ground. With Walcot sitting in sixth place just below Gordano. With the wind behind Gordano Mike Dyer and Gav Dungan made kicks which kept Walcot pinned in their own 22 it was five minutes in when a Walcot knock on from a kick led to the first score, with a front row of a combined age of over 100 drove Walcot back at speed and allowed Jack Thomas to score easily. Gordano kept Walcot in their own 22 due to the wind and found Mike Dyer in fine kicking form making touch kick after kick keeping Walcot at bay. The next try came from a penalty which Jack Thomas taking a quick tap and go ran through Walcot almost unopposed. Walcot fought up the pitch but found Gordano in good defensive form something which has been missing this season. Considering Neal Foster is new to rugby and found himself in a new position he made numerous tackles in the centre. Gordano broke in attack and the forwards and backs combined well to keep the ball alive and Jack Thomas was out in support to receive a pass on the wing and broke down the wing to score a hat trick within 30 minutes with Nick Moore adding the extras from out wide. And again Gordano managed to break with the last play of the half and who was on hand to support play and score his forth try of the day Jack Thomas!!!!!

Half Time
Walcot II 0 - 24 Gordano II

After playing well in the first half and using the wind to Gordano’s advantage it was Walcot’s turn to apply the pressure and Walcot’s 10 had a boot that went from their 22 into Gordano’s 22. Knowing that Walcot had very little success clearing their lines in the first half. Gordano almost got caught out when Phil Hodder got isolated and Mike Dyer had to go over the line to award Walcot a 5 metre scrum. The only problem though for Walcot was they could not handle the Gordano pack at the scrum and found themselves being driven back on numerous occasions. But with Gordano not being able to clear their lines Walcot piled on the pressure, but were having no luck as Gordano tackled everything that ran down the middle, although Walcot were having a lot of ball it took them a while to send the ball out wide and score in the corner. Again the next ten minutes were played the same Walcot keeping Gordano back in their 22 but were struggling with set piece as Luke Wilson stole quite a few lineouts to ease the pressure and a scrum that was ever going forward in Gordano’s favour. Countless penalty’s were being given for Gordano’s indiscipline but the defence remained solid again. It wasn’t until Walcot got the ball out wide again their winger was able to score in the corner. With thirteen minutes left to play Walcot had now ran out of steam, Phil Hodder broke out of the Gordano 22 and made good ground to get past the halfway line. Gordano then started to create a platform to play from creating slow ball and then sending the ball out to the backs when Walcot’s forwards got sucked in . After a Walcot player tried killing a ruck, the referee deemed it necessary to even out the game and give Nino Toto a yellow card with nine minutes left to play. Walcot never managed to make the extra man count and even with two broken fingers Seb Harding broke through and scored to seal the first win of 2015.

Although not a classic game it was the best all round performance I have seen this season, everyone one played their part in making sure we won this fixture, the tackling was the best it has been all season. The STANDARD was set on Saturday although quite a few regulars that cried off won’t know that!!!!. Although Jack Thomas was outstanding along with the other 14 players Man of the Match went to Kane Holloway who dominated in the loose. Gimp of the game went to Nino Toto again in a one sided affair when it came to the vote for his yellow card.