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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.
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