The History Boys!

Old Alleynians 2nds 10 Old Elthamians 66

Talk about saving the best for last.

Elthamians duly completed the perfect season with this 10-try thrashing of second placed Old Alleynians 2nds which was every bit as emphatic as the scoreline suggests.

It was their eighteenth win in 18 games and the first time an Elthamians side have completed an unbeaten season in the club's 113-year history. The manner in which they brushed aside a strong Alleynians side, who have caused them so many problems in recent encounters between the two clubs, illustrates just how far OEs have progressed this season. And just how dominant they have been in Counties 3 Kent. In three games against the next best placed teams in the division during the last four weeks, Elthamians have scored an astonishing 26 tries.

Their first half performance against Alleynians, given the quality of opposition, the difficult conditions and an uneven water-logged pitch, was arguably their best 40 minutes of a record-breaking campaign.

Coach Paul Moyse admitted afterwards that the message to the players in the dressing room before kick-off was about stressing the importance of making a fast start; of laying down a marker.
The players responded with a breathless opening salvo from the first whistle which stunned the home side. Flanker Joe Watkins soared to claim the opening kick-off in Alleynians’ territory and sparked a sweeping passage of play through 15 phases which ended with lock Frankie Nella stretching over the top of a ruck to touch down after only two minutes.

The home side had yet to get their hands on the ball and it was exactly the start Elthamians wanted. Although Alleynians hit back with a penalty three minutes later on a rare incursion into the visitors’ territory, they were forced to spend much of the remainder of the opening 40 minutes pinned in their own half soaking up wave after wave of Elthamians possession.

OEs added a length-of-the-field second try on 13 minutes. Stealing a wayward home lineout in their own 22, the ball was shipped to midfield where Connor Moyse and Jo Leigh combined superbly to break the first line of defence and sprint up the middle of the park before Moyse outpaced the covering defence and unselfishly slipped the ball to winger George Robinson for the simplest of run-ins.

Elthamians were now getting into their stride and front and centre of their dominant display was the smallest man on the pitch. Prince Ncube has been a revelation since joining the club during the summer, but for much of the season he has been forced to bide his time on the wing. Here, moved to his favoured scrum-half position, the pocket rocket, with all the time in the world behind a dominant scrum, played at a tempo that Alleynians struggled to deal with. The speed with which he moved the ball from the breakdown, particularly his clever use of the narrow side, allowed the pacemen outside him the extra time and space at the gain-line - and they took full advantage.

Ncube’s acceleration and quick-thinking set up OEs’ third try on 20 minutes. They were awarded a penalty on the touchline after demolishing the Alleynians’ scrum, and while the two packs were still getting to their feet, Ncube had taken a quick tap, raced into midfield and fed Dillon Robertson who barrelled his way under the posts.

It was a try out of nothing and it knocked the stuffing out of the home side. Leading 19-3 after the first quarter, Elthamians secured the fourth try bonus point shortly afterwards when Chris Sweet crashed over from close range for his sixth try of the season.

The hooker has been part of an impressive but unheralded front row unit that perhaps haven’t been given all the credit they deserve this season. Yet Sweet and his compadres at the coalface have laid the forward platform which has enabled the speedsters out wide to thrive. Here again, the hooker and props Kieran Read, captain Richie Trew and replacement Haydn Wilds were prominent throughout, particularly in the loose, and the front row quartet had a field day in the scrum which had the Alleynians eight going backwards for most of the afternoon.

Fly-half Jo Leigh added a fifth score shortly before half-time with a darting run through heavy traffic and there was still time for Nella to score his second try following a deft off-load from Moyse after forwards and backs had combined with another multi-phase passage of play.

Leading 38-3 with the game already in the bag and the slope and strong wind in their favour after the break, it looked to merely be a matter of how many Elthamians could score.

And the omens certainly did not look good for Alleynians when they conceded a soft try within five minutes of the restart. As they tried to move the ball wide on the edge of their 22, a loose pass was picked off by OEs centre Mitch Coppard who raced unopposed to the try-line.

Just two minutes later, another slick off-load from the influential Moyse released Reis Norman for his customary charge up the middle and try number 21 of the campaign.

But credit to Alleynians, who having tackled themselves to a standstill despite being 52-3 in arrears and with little possession to work with, now enjoyed their best spell of the game in the final quarter. They finally started to keep play tight, rather than trying to move the ball wide as quickly as possible, and began to make in-roads, punching the ball up the middle through their forwards and building some much needed phase possession. They forced OEs into a conceding a string of penalties which resulted in a yellow card for winger Sam Scott, and took advantage of the extra man when their forwards finally forced their way over for their only try of the match on 62 minutes.

It was only a brief respite, however, as stung once more into action, Elthamians were to have the last word with two tries in the closing moments. Moyse deservedly got on the scoresheet when he strolled under the posts following quick ball off the top off a lineout in the home 22, and Robinson scored his second, finishing off some great work by Cam Haimes and Scott in midfield with a searing 50 metre run down the touchline before cutting inside and racing to the posts. A fitting end to a momentous season.

SCORERS:
Tries: Nella (2), Robinson (2), Robertson, Sweet, Leigh, Coppard, Norman, Moyse.
Cons: Leigh x 8
Half-time: 3-38
Old Elthamians: Trew, Sweet, Read, Ryan, Nella, Moyse, Watkins, Norman, Ncube, Leigh, Scott, Robertson, Coppard, Robinson, Haimes. Subs: Wilds, Hoddy, Raggett.
MOTM: Prince Ncube