Alcuin above the law

Alcuin began their preparation for the spring 10s tournament with a friendly against the college of law and overcame referee, pitch and opposition to battle out a 5-3 last-gasp victory.

With the cold spell retreating a little and the sun in the sky, conditions appeared good, but this disguised an almost dangerously waterlogged pitch, which soon had all and sundry sliding every which way across the mud.

Receiving the kick, Alcuin took time to settle, with several kicks charged down and few phases put together. However, the scrums and lineouts were extremely solid, as the pack easily outpowered their opposition, with player-coach Dan Hunt in particular bossing the fringes at the breakdown.

Although play was scrappy, this was in no small part thanks to the referee, whose decisions varied from unclear to outright incorrect, and succeeded admirably in thoroughly bemusing both sides. Indeed, at times it seemed the referee was simply trying to make good on the opening line of his pre-match instructions: "Obviously the standard of play is going to be very low today."

Getting into a rhythm earlier, College of Law had much of the possession of the first half, but Alcuin defended solidly as a team, making Law progress slow and forcing them to kick frequently. The game of the boot represented the starkest contrast between the two sides, as the Law fly-half frequently failed to make touch, while on-loan James captain Seb Weir at 10 and Alcuin President Paul Guest at fullback ably relieved pressure and made ground throughout.

At the half hour mark, Law gained a penalty in front of the posts inside the Alcuin 10m line and unsurprisingly opted to kick for goal, having found so little joy against the visitors' sturdy drift defence. But Alcuin were untroubled by the concession and soon hit back up the left wing to gain a penalty of their own. After an extended injury stoppage for the Law 13's dislocated shoulder, Guest's thumping kick bounced agonisingly of the inside of the upright, and so Alcuin went in at half-time undeservedly 3-0 down.

The second half saw the College of Law tiring dramatically, with Alcuin gaining increasing amounts of possession and hitting their stride in the loose, when not stuck in the mud. Putting together more and more phases as the match went on, by the final quarter Alcuin were exasperated at not having converted their pressure into points, doing well not to vent their frustrations at the increasingly unhelpful referee.

But rather than flagging as in previous games, Alcuin stepped up the intensity, putting a stranglehold on the last ten minutes of the game and locking the play in the Law half. Moving the ball back and forth across the pitch against a good drift defence, Alcuin made ground yard by yard, capitalising on excellent lineout retention to maintain possession.

Joy finally came in the final minute of the game, when another textbook scrum on the left of the 5m line presented the ball for a classic backs spread left to right, with Guest's looping miss-two pass sending supersub Brad Voigt crashing over in the corner. The conversion proved too far out to add to the victory, but being the final kick of the game, Alcuin barely noticed, celebrating a fully deserved and extremely hard-fought win.

Speaking after the game, Alcuin captain and scrum-half Giles Raymond said, "The game was played in fantastic spirit. Every inch of the mire was fought over desperately, and it's safe to say both teams were shattered by the end. We deserved to win, and I'm pleased we did by sticking at it, remaining patient and taking one of our chances finally. Hopefully they can play other colleges and the fixture won't become another one-off like the Barbarians game is threatening to become."

Man of the match went to number eight Ross Gehnich for his endless, devastating breaks in the loose and solid command of the pack. Special mention though must go to the non-Alcuinites - Weir, Gore, Reed and Taylor - who played with such drive and dedication for a cause that was not their own. Fused with Alcuin's backs, they created a formidable backline, though unfortunately the sight of Dan Taylor putting in crunching tackles in an Alcuin shirt will probably never be seen again. Bring on the college Barbarians!

Team: 1.Jordan Abbott 2.Tom Fitz-Hugh 3.Matt Forrest 4.Ty Partridge 5.Alex Smith 6.Dan Hunt 7.James Hargreaves 8.Ross Gehnich (V-C) 9.Giles Raymond (C) 10.Seb Weir 11.John Gore 12.Simon Reed 13.Dan Taylor 14.Huw Burdge 15.Paul Guest

Subs: Tom Rider, Karl Binks, Stephen Cole, Chris To, Johnathan Matlock, Brad Voigt

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