Mariners get one over Andover
Andover III 24 – 25 Lymington Mariners
Within thirty minutes of Saturday’s match away to Andover 3, Lymington’s finest examples of masculinity seemed to have the game well under control with a 0-15 lead following three well-worked tries. Only, rugby isn’t always that straightforward and Andover, to their credit, kept their heads high and summoned the will to give Lymington a game, ensuring it wasn’t all plain sailing for the visitors.
Boosted by the return of their specialist props following their absence in the defeat to Tottonians IV, the Lymington pack had a much more stable and solid look about them. No quarter was to be given by this front row and Andover did well to hold the front three of Jason Bolwell, Owen Cavell and the man they call ‘The Fridge’. The pack were given an early chance to test their mettle after an Andover knock on from a Lymington kick-off, holding well on half way to allow scrum half Joe Rodway to get the ball away to his backline where it was duly kicked to touch. Upon claiming their own lineout, Andover were put under pressure by a keen Lymington team who were eventually penalised following some strong running.
Andover threw in at their line-out only for it to be adjudged ‘not straight’. Once again Lymington’s scrum held well to allow the ball to be picked up and passed to winger Jamie Bolwell who (not for the first time) ran strongly, gaining good yards before taking further advantage from an Andover knock-on. The advantage was well used as the ball was fed to The Fridge before moving to scrum half Joe Rodway who dotted it down over the line on 5 minutes.
Once again, Lymington seemed to be in luck as Andover’s restart was kicked out on the full resulting in another Lymington scrum; this time on half-way. This, followed by a Lymington advantage from an Andover knock-on and strong run by prop Jason Bolwell, seemed to signal a clear dominance in favour of the visitors. However, some loose handling allowed Andover’s inside centre to gather the ball and break away before being wrapped up by some committed tackling by the Mariners.
Several phases of play ensued with Andover’s attack being soaked up and on occasions pushed back as they sought to breach the Lymington water-tight defence. With Lymington’s forwards dominating, Andover started to commit more men to counteract some strong mauling by the Mariners and, having finally won the ball back, lost it again in the face of some superb aggressive defence. Lymington capitalised again with Joe Rodway stealing the ball to run in his second try of the match on 15 minutes.
As the game continued it became increasingly evident that Lymington’s pack were the more dominant with some good work in the line outs and scrums in contrast to some of Andover’s set piece work where line out ball was a particular issue for them. In the 23rd minute, a clearly buoyed Lymington team looked set to add to their 10 points after a crashing run by their number 8, Lee Thomas and some good follow up play. However, the next move broke down after a promising break by fly half Chris Scott-Bowden when Andover knocked-on on their own try line. A Lymington scrum was followed by a ruck on the line which was stolen by a desperate Andover defence who cleared their lines.
It was then Andover’s turn to pile the pressure on Lymington who were awarded a penalty advantage near Lymington’s try line. However, having knocked-on once again, Andover soon found themselves defending a scrum which was won by Lymington who punted it towards Andover’s twenty-two following a decent run out of their own twenty-two. Good follow-up work ensured the Andover player who caught the ball was tackled into touch, resulting in a successful Lymington throw-in and another storming run from Lee Thomas which was continued by hooker Owen Cavell. This resulted in Lymington’s third and most comfortable try on 31 minutes as Owen, once he had crossed the line, generously gave the ball to John West to score his first ever try for the club . Then, the tide started to turn with Andover replying with their own just before half-time following an intercept by Andover’s inside centre who passed to his winger to score a try out wide after generating a decent overlap.
With the wind out of the Mariners’ sails following their late capitulation in the first half, Andover stepped their game up a notch with another breakaway by the influential Andover inside centre who parted the sea of Lymington players in a move reminiscent of Moses at his best, dotting the ball down expertly between the posts! An easy conversion took the scores to 12-15.
Despite the Mariners’ good work in the set pieces, Andover continued to pressure them and force mistakes and, seven minutes on from their last try, latched on to a loose pass from Lymington’s scrum half to post their third try to make 17 unanswered points. Lymington seriously needed to right their ship! However, as the game progressed, further errors crept into Lymington’s game. As frustration took its toll, the referee marched Lymington back 10m from an Andover penalty for dissension, and not for the only time!
The Mariners’, however, found an extra reserve and battled back with some great runs by winger Jamie Bolwell until the pressure finally told with The Fridge claiming a great bulldozing try to the left of the posts. Going one point ahead, it was time for Lymington to press on only to be undone by a well-worked try by the home side capitalising on a Lymington knock-on from the kick-off.
Nine minutes later, the Mariners claimed a hard-fought win with Joe Rodway scoring his hat trick after some tense play following a penalty for a high tackle and a lost scrum by Andover. From there, Lymington finished strongly until the final whistle blew to jubilant yet relieved cheers from the players and their travelling supporters.
The ‘Lymington Rivaaz Man of the match’ was Charlie Cutler, in only his second game for the club and his first ever as flanker, who was a titan in defence, an everpresent at the breakdown and like a runaway express train with the ball in hand.
Andover’s Match Report:
http://www.nrwebsolutions.com/Arfc/3rdxvreport.htm
Facebook
Twitter
Linkedin
RSS Feed
