Saturday 31st March 2012

LOWESTOFT & YARMOUTH – 30
CHELMSFORD – 13

L&Y deservedly won this hard fought encounter over mid-table rivals Chelmsford in front of a large home crowd at Gunton Park. Both sides had a number of injuries and changes to their teams typical at this late stage of the season, and although L&Y have struggled recently to find the desired levels of attitude and concentration, it was they who gelled quickest largely through the new half back pairing of Tom Castleton and Dave Tiueti. Man-of-the-match Castleton was drafted up from the 2ndXV to return to his old role of scrum half in place of the absent Russ Chapman and had a hand in all four tries including bagging one for himself, while former Tongan international Tiueti returned from 10 weeks away with a broken jaw to add much needed structure in midfield and 10 points with the boot.

With a strong wind blowing in from the north, L&Y started with the advantage but for 20 minutes the game remained at stalemate with L&Y unable to finish a couple of chances and finding it difficult to interpret some pedantic and stifling refereeing. Powerful lock Aaron Trindall’s break led to a first penalty for Tiueti on the quarter mark. The home side’s scrum superiority was giving Castleton and Marc Thomas some room at the base, and these two combined well from 20 yards out to set up Scott Nelson for the first try when the centre twisted and wriggled through a number of defenders to stretch over the line. Tiueti converted, then had the chance again after 35 minutes when a similar dominant scrum allowed Castleton and Thomas to break left from near halfway, Brad Sutherland and Steve Adams handled and the little scrum half looped around intelligently for the scoring pass. What was important was the fact L&Y scored while they were down to 14 men with lineout supremo Ryan Oakes in the bin, but just before the break, some good phase play gave the Chelmsford flyhalf room to burst through and he sent his prop on a free run to the line for an unconverted reply and a half time 17-5 scoreline.

L&Y knew the second half was going to be a struggle playing into the wind, but strangely it was they who had the better of the kicking game with the Chelmsford fullback having difficulty dealing with Nelson and Tiueti’s punting. A superb turnover on halfway by Adams following a Chelmsford lineout caught the visitors cold and when busy hooker Chris Howe and silky fullback Sutherland broke back to the left they worked enough room for winger Daniel Boardley to skip out of a tackle and race away to the line. Tiueti missed the conversion but added a penalty, then in reply Chelmsford replied with another try for their prop after a horrendous attempted clearance kick by Zak Baxter fell into his arms yards from the line. Although the visiting kicker missed the conversion he soon added a penalty after a harsh sin-binning for L&Y’s captain Thomas at the breakdown. Once again, despite being a man down, L&Y not only held out, but improved their lead by winning a scrum against the head and quick hands from Castleton, Tiueti and Nelson gave Josh Fewkes the space to fend off his marker and hustle wide to the line for their fourth try. As the game ran to an end L&Y had their bonus point victory secured so took the opportunity to play a riskier unloading game which treated the crowd to some decent play but didn’t result in any more scores.

Special mention must go to L&Y’s 47-year old club Chairman Russell Wilkinson who made his home 1stXV farewell appearance in the second row. After a number of years without playing, the big police inspector has enjoyed an Indian summer five year stint in the 1stXV engine room and his efficient honest toil on the pitch will be missed by all except his ever-patient wife Karen. He now retires to the committee room and to concentrate on taking L&Y forward from behind the scenes.

Team: Bristo (Newton), Howe, Stephenson, Wilkinson (Taylor Crisp), Trindall, Oakes, Adams, Thomas, Castleton, Tiueti, Boardley (Gee), Nelson, Fewkes, Baxter, Sutherland

Tries: Nelson, Castleton, Boardley, Fewkes
Cons: Tiueti 2
Pens: Tiueti 2