EXILES MARCH ON IN THE CUP
OP’S 3 – EXILES 19
Last Saturday saw the 1st XV travel to Old Priorians in search of their Twickenham dream. Previous results suggested this was going to be a hard fought fixture and a tough physical battle was inevitable.
Injuries throughout the week unsettled the run up procedures however the depth of talent in the club proved to be invaluable with some last minute call ups being made on Friday night to get the 19 man squad in place.
The warm up did not go quite to plan with our 12 Zac Frei discovering his back injury from the previous week was not fully healed and he could not run. However, with no immediate cover at 12 Zac showed his warrior instincts and refused to sit this one out and we decided he would play but do as little as possible. As long as he looked the part we agreed we would be fine. Hopefully he’ll be slightly more useful going forwards.
From the kick off it was apparent that the Exiles were here to do business and met Priorians with some heavy hitting from the whistle. Some relentless defence cutting off the Priorians runners around the fringes gained the Exiles a turnover ball which we used effectively with some hard lines from the forwards. Within no time at all Priorians gave away a penalty within kicking range. However, Hupfield bottled it and put the kick wide.
From the 22 restart the Exiles kept the pressure on Priorians and maintained the aggressive defensive effort to eventually receive another penalty inside the OP’s half which this time was successfully converted.
0-3 Exiles…..
From the restart Priorians stepped up their attacking efforts and put the pressure on the Exiles. However, the Exiles defence proved too much for Priorians to handle and another turnover allowed the Exiles to use the wind and put Priorians back into their own half. From a Priorians put in they crashed their 12 through the 10 channel only to be held up and then severed by Humphrey Rose. He consequently had to leave the field and would not return.
The Exiles put the pressure back on Priorians who eventually conceded a penalty just inside their half. This was successfully converted.
0-6 Exiles……
Priorians responded well and within no time were on the edge of the Exiles 22. Their main strategy throughout the day was to use their hefty forwards around the fringes and 10 channel, however solid Exiles defence kept them at by. After some relentless Priorians attacking efforts ill-discipline from the Exiles gifted Priorians 3 points just inside the 22.
3-6 Exiles….
The Exiles continued the gritty defensive display and pinned Priorians back into their own half. Before long Priorians conceded a penalty which was converted.
3-9 Exiles……
The final 10 minutes of the half proved to be the most dangerous Priorians attacking period of the day. They were camped within the Exiles 22 and despite what seemed like a bottomless pit of Exiles tackles the Priorians pressure did not subside. After an outstanding Exiles defensive display a turnover was won and we cleared our lines.
The half time whistle sounded and Priorians had missed their chance of some valuable points.
In a déjà vu scenario the team talk was ‘only ill-discipline will lose us this game’. From the kick off Priorians put the pressure on the Exiles however our strong defence was maintained.
Unfortunately yet again the words at half time were lost in thin air and within minutes of the restart Beanie was shown a yellow for not moving away from the ball at the breakdown.
2 minutes later Pumps was shown a yellow for the exact same offence. We were dropping like flies.
Now with a 2 man advantage and positioned on the Exiles 22, Priorians opted to kick for the corner instead of taking the 3. In what seemed to be defying the laws of gravity an incredible leap from Caz/Corno (can’t remember which) stole the Priorians ball and a fine clearance from MacIldowie once again relieved the pressure.
It was never visible that we were down by 2 men and if anything the Exiles dominated the next 8 minutes. A series of pick and goes and hard lines off 9 maintained Exiles possession. A cynical foul from Priorians (exactly the same as our 2 yellows) was overlooked by the ref due to the fact he couldn’t tell which Priorians player committed the offence. The Exiles had to settle for a penalty which we put in the corner. A very effective catch and drive put Priorians on the back foot and camped on their try line. After relentless pressure from the Exiles, Priorians conceded a penalty and saw a man sent to the bin.
With a simple kick for posts we opted for the 3…….Hupfield missed.
From a Priorians 22 drop out the Exiles continued from where they left off and played back in the Priorians 22. Before long we saw the return of our two sin bins and we were back at full strength, now with a 1 man advantage. This was capitalised upon and after and a successful Priorians line out on their 22, the ball was held up and they were driven back over their line only for Corno to steal the ball and touch it down over the line. The conversion was successful.
3-16 Exiles…..
The remainder of the half saw much of the same pattern as the previous 60 with aggressive Priorians attacking around the fringes met by effective and clinical Exiles defence.
The Exiles used the wind well and played the corners to keep the ball in the Priorians half. Maintained pressure in defence and simple attacking from the Exiles kept Priorians at bay despite their continued effective attacks.
Within the remaining few minutes the Exiles received a penalty just outside the opposition 22 which was put over for 3.
3-19 Exiles….Full Time.
DOTD – Pez for not turning up. Cooky for forgetting his Oyster card, getting fined £25 and consequently turning up 15 mins before Kick Off.
MOTM – Caz Caz for an outstanding defensive display.
Other Notable Mentions – Corno, Pumps, Rose and Haddock for their defensive efforts.
See you at training.