5 Try Students defeat the Irish

Scotland Students RLFC 30-10 Irish Students RLFC

Venue: Woolston Rugby Club, Warrington
Kick Off: 2.30 pm, Sunday 12th May, 2002
Written by:  Kate Cochrane

Scotland Students run of five tries sealed victory over the Irish Students at Woolston Rugby Football Club on Sunday 12th May.  Scotland’s physical dominance produced a convincing win of 30 - 10.

The Irish opened the scoring with a try from fullback Campbell after five minutes of play.  The Irish kept the ball alive resulting in pressure in the Scotland half and the eventual try.  However, Campbell failed to convert. The Scots kept their heads and with some outstanding runs, particularly from James MacKay, Scotland forced the play back into the Irish half.  James Noble was able to ground the ball over the try line after a series of angled runs by his team mates had contributed to the pressure placed on the Irish red zone.  Noble broke through his tackle and stretched for the line.  Craig Fisher successfully converted to hand Scotland a 6 - 4 lead.
Fisher was given an extra opportunity to extend the score line after 31 minutes of play when Ireland conceded a penalty for a swinging arm. However, Fisher’s kick rebounded back off the posts.
Scotland’s forwards assisted in maintaining the pressure in Ireland’s half by forcing their defensive line back and offloading the ball.  Their hard work eventually paid off with a sensational try from the winger Ross Neil. Fisher had initiated the offensive with a dummy pass out wide to the centre Rob Clarke.  Clarke fended off two of the opposition and offloaded to the charging Neil who powered down the left wing, side stepping the defence, to score the try.  Fisher converted to stretch the score line to 12 - 4 in Scotland’s favour.
A powerful drive by MacKay put the Irish on the defensive after only 2 minutes.  MacKay’s shear strength allowed him to offload to Joel Parker who accelerated past the desperate defence to clinch a try between the posts. Fisher once again kicked a the conversion leaving Scotland with a promising lead of 18 - 4 by half time.
Scotland entered the second half with the same ferocity they had left the first half.  Dominant and creative work by the Scots put the Irish on the back foot.  Their dominance rapidly paid off with a try from Neil Foster.  Adam Shockley started the attack stampeding through numerous tackles.  Shockley was eventually halted but was able to produce a pass inside to good support from Rob Weatherhead.  Weatherhead provided a short pass inside to Fisher who scored between the posts.  Fisher also converted his own try.
Ireland were not prepared to throw in the towel and continuously forced Scotland back. The consistent pressure lead to a try from the Irish winger Freedman who was gifted the chance by a mis-tackle.  The score line was narrowed further by a successful conversion from Campbell.
The final try of the match came from another stampeding run by Shockley gaining 30 yards of crucial ground.  The ball was passed out wide to Barry Edgar who drew in the defence.  Edgar provided a short pass out to Neil Foster who sprinted towards the try line.  Fisher maintained a solid kicking record, converting the try to leave the score at 30 - 10. The remaining 15 minutes continued to be tremendously physical but fatigue was setting in which left the dying minutes a much scrappier affair.
However, the victory had been a sweet one for the Scots having not beaten the Irish in their last 3 fixtures.  James MacKay deservedly received the Man of the Match Award after his searing drives had given the Scots plenty of opportunity to score points and keep the Irish locked in their own half for a large proportion of the match.  Scotland’s achievement will give them great optimism for the Championship in Italy in July where their aim is to win.

Kate Cochrane is the Media Officer for the Scotland Students RL.