Old Grovians 51 Wath 19

Blame it on the delays caused by the M1 closure or the usual glut of changes, but Wath made a terrible start to the game at Old Grovians. Turning over the ball from the kick off, the O.G.’s passed the ball wide and, in the absence of any tackling, scored a try in the first minute. A touchline conversion made the score 7-0.
After just 3 minutes, the O.Gs’ backs carved a huge gap in the Wath defence and crossed the line unopposed. The conversion missed, so the lead stood at 12-0. Worse soon followed as Ant. Barratt was forced to leave the field through injury. The pace and power of the Grovians’ backs split Wath’s defence again in the 12th minute and they added an unconverted try to their score to make it 17-0.
Wath finally gained some territory and possession, but were unable to turn the pressure into points. Unfortunately, on 20 minutes, prop forward, Anthony Hamilton, took an accidental knock to the head and was to play no further part in the game.
Having defended well, Grovians eventually broke out of defence and, on 30 minutes, increased their lead to 31-0 with another converted try from long distance. Another unconverted try by Grovians made the score 36-0.
Wath did strike back and, following a series of scrums near the home team line, slick handling by Adam West and Adam Clarke gave winger, Sam Holt, an easy run in. Jack Whitlam made the score 36-7 on 40 minutes.
Half time brought the introduction of Richard Hill. His skill and experience brought some stability to the Wath team. The brave return of Ant Barratt also increased Wath’s confidence. Gaining some control of the game, Wath reduced the arrears on 50 minutes with a great piece of individual skill by Barratt, who followed up his own kick to score a try. The kick by Whitlam went just wide but the gap closed to 36-12.
On the hour mark O.G. produced an excellent phase of rugby executed at great pace. Wath had no answer and Grovians stretched their lead to 43-12 with a converted try. Showing greater spirit, despite the loss of centre, Patrick Selkirk, with a leg injury, Wath battled back. A series of penalties were conceded by O. Grovians leading to a yellow card and Wath were awarded a penalty try on 70 minutes to make the score 43-19.
Old Grovians closed the game out by kicking a penalty and scoring a try in the last minute to give a final score of 51-19 to the home side. A disappointing performance by the Wath team, who were clearly under prepared, despite the coaching team’s best efforts.
Steve Corns

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