Hoylake 2's -v- St. Edwards OB

[b]Match Report: Hoylake 2’s -v- St. Edmunds Old Boys

Well after having missed the last two games through illness, I was looking forward to seeing the lads perform in what should have been a close fought contest (based on last seasons games). So off I trundled on yet another glorious sunny but crisp afternoon to Carham Road.
How sad I was to see the dilapidated and makeshift 2nd team pack run out with only five recognised 2nd team players in it! The usual late cry offs and people required to make up the numbers in the ‘1sts’ meaning that Neil HARVEY was forced to play at ‘Tight head Prop’! The good news was that ‘Will DOW’ had returned from injury at scrum-half (although there was talk before the game of him playing at flanker, a position he enjoys as it gives him more opportunity to knock the opposition on their backsides!) and the backline, led by that stalwart Jay BALDOCK, looked fast, even with a couple of new bloods.

The Game:
Considering the very wet pitch conditions the first half was surprisingly even with the play flowing from one end to the other, usually only breaking down when one side or the other gave away a penalty or knocked on. There were a couple of occasions where the Hoylake side looked as if they were going to score only to drop the slippy ball at the crucial moment, sad times, these only got sadder as 3 minutes from half-time St. Edwards OB made a breakaway run to score a try which was duly converted.

The first half finished Hoylake 00 – 07 St. Edwards OB

On this basis the second half was something to look forward to, ‘Game on’!!

Unfortunately St. Edwards OB’s having scored ‘first blood’ had their tails up and they applied pressure from the whistle. Even worse the Hoylake pack began to show signs of tiredness and even worse than that was the Hoylake backs failed to remember the basics of tackling. Time and time again the St. Edwards OB’s took advantage of their well drilled pack and their reserves to win more and more scrums and line-outs, counter rucking and feeding their backs who made great runs, continuously breaking through half-hearted tackles and scoring a further 6 tries.

Despite the efforts of Darren Agnew AND Neil HARVEY to lead their dilapidated pack, a more mature and responsible performance from Matty ROSS at No.8, the mature and gritty leadership skills of Jay BALDOCK at No.10 and the ‘pound for pound’ tackling skills of Will DOW who appeared all over the pitch in his tenacious attempts to support his backline and tackle every member of the St. Edwards OB team before the final whistle, the final score ended up with Hoylake suffering their worst defeat of this season.

Hoylake 00 – 43 St. Edwards Old Boys