Hereford 2nd XV - 10
Old Patesians 2nd XV – 41
A jumbled yet impressive performance by Old Patesian 2nd XV maintain their unbeaten streak. With players playing out of position and out of retirement, they put in a quality performance to out muscle Hereford 2nd XV in sweltering 30°C heat.
Pats started off up the hill into a slight wind on a surface which could be compared to a dustbowl with grass. Which took its toll early on. Making his return to the 2nd team Jake 'The Worm' Fautley suffering a tibia fracture in the first minute, but what a minute. Which added further complications to the playing resources. Back rows moved to the wing and hooker replacements to the back row.
From the restart Pats soaked up pressure, with Hereford looking to run almost everything from their own 22. Pats were awarded a penalty at the breakdown, which allowed Rob Nock to show off his long range boot, and torpedo the ball into touch 10 meters out, from there the Pats forwards used the rolling maul from the lineout, which allowed Chris Dean to crash over, Nock added the conversion.
From the off, Pats again moved their way up field with more effective forward play. Strong carries up the pitch from Craig Ballinger making his return from injury and quick ball from Leroy 'Young Mudway' Hughes allowed the Pats backs to spread wide. Pats were again awarded a penalty for Herefords indiscipline and Nock opted to kick at goal, and took the three points with ease.
Hereford now found their feet, and started to play with more confidence. They again opted to run from deep, and crossed the gain line out wide. An important covering tackle by Andy Smitherman stopped the charge, and Ben Tupper turned the ball over at the ruck on the Pats 10 meter line. Nock cleared the lines from the awarded penalty.
The Pats line out was not at its best, and the lost ball allowed Hereford to gain territory form the boot. Pats again lost the line out ball, and the Hereford backs charged forward. Powerful tackling as always from Lotti kept them out, but they built the phases, and they broke the lines, allowing them to score under the posts with the fly half adding the conversion.
When Pats had the ball in hand going forward, the Hereford defence had little to offer. Tupper broke the Hereford lines with a grubber kick which he recovered, bought down 10 yards out, Smitherman kicked through again, but the ball was adjudged knocked on. Hereford cleared from the scrum, and breathed a small sigh of relief.Pats were starting to feel the relentless heat, and gave away a penalty for hands in the ruck allowing Hereford to kick for safety. They moved the ball into midfield from the lineout and were met again with hard tackling power, but more hands in the ruck allowed them a penalty and they kicked at goal levelling the game 10-10 at half time.
Rallied back together at half time, a recharged Pats took control once more. Powerful first up tackling won them turn over ball at the restart, which allowed Leroy Hughes to crash over, taking offload ball out of the tackle from Lotti. Nock added the extras.
Hereford, also feeling the heat rang in the changes in the front row, who was instantly yellow carded for killing the ball at the breakdown. Nock opting for the kick at goal, kicking with ease.
Powerful Pats attack, found them again on the Hereford 22. They blitzed the Hereford attempts to clear their lines, and were awarded with an interception try through the newley recruited stand in winger.
The hard ground again took its toll on the Pats. Injury plagued Ballinger, recovering from a Spiral Dislocation fracture last season, and a dislocated shoulder this season. Took a hard impact on the ground, and the shoulder was damaged again and pats were down to 14 men as all reserves were used up.Hereford now back to 15 men, lost their discipline again, their second row was red-carded for a punch with another player injured were down to 13 men.
Taking advantage of the man overlap, Pats launched direct attacks up the middle. They built up the phases and found themselves on the Herefor 5 meter line. The ball mades its way to Connor 'Steamtrain' Thompson, and he made a charge at the line, being bought down 3 yards short. Pats moved the ball wide, quick hands from Nock and Sam Brown and put Smitherman in, who ran in out wide, scoring under the posts.
At the kick off, Hereford looked to try to turn the tables. They applied pressure of their own, but resilient defence, kept them out. They had one shot at glory, but they knocked it on over the line. The strong Pats pack held their own and were awarded a penalty at the scrum. Nock taking a tap and go penalty, hitting Lotti up the middle who shook off tackles to get over the gain line. Pats went through the hands, Dean checking the defender to Tupper who offloaded out of the tackle to Nock, who ran in unopposed from halfway. He added the conversion.
The second XV carry on their undefeated run, but need to improve on the discipline at the ruck time with the strong test of Dings Crusaders next week.
Man of the match - Leroy Hughes
By Pat E Sian
