Pershore 31 - Old Leamingtonians 15
APR
At any other time of the season, this would have been a good result for
Pershore, but the quality of rugby produced by Pershore in recent weeks,
meant that players and supporters alike, were left a little
dissapointed. On a searing hot day, Pershore produced quality Rugby in
the first half. Again, the platforn was set with forward domination,
with Old Leams struggling to contain Pershores big ball carriers.
Sustained pressure enabled Pershore to quickly set foot in Leams 22, and
a quick tap penalty released Marcus Whyte. His strong running and
quickly recycled ball from the ensuing ruck, allowed Martin Hope to hit
the ball at full flight, and crash over. Woodhouse converted. Almost
from the restart, enterprising play from the backs enabled electric
winger Steph Ellis to cruise inside, and outside his winger, to score in
the corner. The difficult conversion missed. Leams enjoyed some
possession for a spell, but when the ball was turned over on Pershores
22, the ball was kicked downfield. The Leams full back, was caught in no
mans land, and the ball bounced up kindly for Ashley White to score his
first try for the first team. Wooodhouse converted. Leams were not to be
bullied though, and showing character they managed to reduce the arrears
from a catch and drive from a lineout, their prop crashing over from a
driving maul, which was converted. Pershore soon hit back though, and
again relying on their powerful runners, they soon began to make the
hard yards, and get into scoring positions. Skipper Adrian Hanson cut
inside his centre to put away Matt Harwood to touch down, and just
before the half time whistle , smart interplay from forwards and the
backs, eventually saw Toby Grace crash over , with Woodhouse converting
to make it 31 - 7 at half time. Unfortunatly this was Pershores last
score of the match. Leams must take enormous credit for storming back,
but Pershore visibly took their foot off the pedal. The forward
domination so apparent in the first half evaporated, and Leams started
to win some good ball. They were rewarded with a penalty, and an
unconverted try soon followed to further close the gap. Allthough
Pershore did regain some composure late in the game, the execution of
some of their back play in particular was not very good, and passes were
spilled, and hard won possession kicked away. When the final whistle
came, allthough it was a fine win, it felt a little hollow, based on
recent performances.
