Old Albanians Occasionals vs Letchworth GC 2nd/3rd - 28/24
So, a mixed 2nd and 3rd team travelled to OAs. This saw the first run out of the season for Matt Oughton at the age of 49 3/4. We also welcomed the younger Askham to the club with the arrival of Freddie who played in the centre.
The game started with our scrum and lineout dominant and it stayed that way for the majority of the game. This was helped by the very welcome presence of Adam Amos. In the first half Letchworth struggled to find the desired consistency and trailed by 11 points at half time. Fine break away tries by the Brothers Rooney coupled with excellent defensive work by all kept Letchworth in the game but there was not the cohesion in attack that was hoped for.
In the second half the team cohesion grew and the fine work of the back row helped secure ball and breakdown the OAs defence a little more than in the first half. Tyler Uys playing at 10 ,for only the first time , kept the backs moving and with the addition of a loan player from OAs 2nd team our back unit started to threaten more. As the game entered the last five minutes Letchworth were only 4 points behind but sadly the clock defeated them and OAs took the spoils.
Man of the match went to Conor Turner who was outstanding in both tight and loose play with over a dozen carries that helped drive the team forward. Frederick and Will Rooney were again outstanding and seem to have adopted Andy Young as their third , much older, brother.
This was a side thrown together that clearly benefited from the fact that all senior teams try to play to the same patterns and calls and produced a result against a renamed OAs 3rd team that would not have been possible in the past. A good day with a planned Friday night rematch being worked upon.
