Collegiate Dig Deep

The morning brought almost ideal conditions for rugby. The only small impediment to a good game of rugby was a touch of morning dew. But this seemed enough to prevent both sides creating a flowing game of rugby. The first half was littered with handling errors. Collegiate in particular looked nervous. There no real stand out moments in the first half, but as we approached half time Collegiate did start to assert themselves and offered the greater threat.

The second half started with Collegiate in the ascendency but still there was no clear opportunity to put points on the board. The match became more and more exciting for the spectators however. The play was very broken and was end to end. Collegiate showed themselves to be resolute in defence and the forwards started to assert themselves in the set piece and also in rucking and counter-rucking.

Nevertheless, it was probably apt that the first points to go on the board should result from error rather than positive play. Collegiate were penalised not retreating 10 yards and Sedgley Park kicked themselves ahead.

With five minutes left Collegiate suddenly found their drive and appetite. Almost immediately from the kick off the home side put the visitors under a great deal of pressure near the try line. Collegiate, in the form of Matthew Ledson, forced over for a try and Aaron slotted the conversion.

A few minutes later Collegiate won a penalty and Aaron took the points. The match ended two minutes later.

The squad of 17 Collegiate players did well to secure the points. Though the belief did not seem to be there at the beginning they did work really hard to get themselves into a winning position and finished the stronger side.

Special mentions go to the walking wounded: Natty, Joel and Liam who showed great team spirit on the field; and to James and Terry who seemed prepared to pull on a shirt on. Fortunately they were not needed!