UCFC A XV 24 Old Albanian 4ths 15

Panic set in on Friday night as the A XV's planned opposition, Westcliff, pulled out of the fixture having secured just 8 players for the next day. Back to the Exchange where Mike Doherty plucked a tidy little fixture out of the database in the form of Old Albanian's 4th team. These two sides used to play each other on a regular basis with Clapton normally recording the win but a quick check of the OA web site showed that this week's opposition were yet to lose this season. What's more OA's 3rd and 5th team were yet to beaten either so it looked like a tough fixture was in the offing.

Despite the challenge that faced them Clapton had good cause to be confident. 21 players available and a mix of a stable core to the team, the return of one or two from injury and the debut of a couple of promising new players meant the mood was good as the teams lined up for kick off. And it was OA that started the game but in flash the ball was sent darting back into their 22 by Maskell for a line out 10 meters from the OA line. Although Clapton were able to exert some pressure on the visitors for the next few minutes OA were able to eventually clear their lines and began to work their way out of defence. After 10 minutes the game developed a pattern with the heavier OA pack being held in the scrum but getting the better of the line outs, and the more mobile Clapton forwards being able to support the open play with increasing commitment and aggression. It was OA however that worked the first try scoring position to take the lead with an unconverted try 0 - 5.

This Clapton side has confidence and is used to winning so it was no surprise that they bounced straight back with Dani Visser collecting a beautiful restart by Jake Philps before offloading to Satwick who just failed to secure the ball under pressure from the OA forwards. A period of Clapton pressure followed with two or three try scoring opportunities going begging due to either last gasp defence or unfortunate handling errors. However a series of scrums in the OA 22 created chances to exploit the blind side and match the huge Visser up against his smaller opposite number.

The first attempt ended with Visser crossing the try line but without the ball, but minutes later the same move worked perfectly as the South African charged over for a welcome try on his return from injury: 5 - 5. Danny Satwick added a second try before half time as this time Clapton worked the narrow side to the left of the pitch creating a 4 v 2 overlap in the open which Satwick exploited to score under the posts. Jake Philps converted to take Clapton to a 12 - 5 lead before OA scored a mirror image of Satwick's try to take the half time score to 12 - 10.

A number of changes were made at half time with Andrew Green taking over from George Parris, JJ coming on for Visser, Stav on for Carroll and Doodle on for John Maasdorp, the net effect of which enabled Clapton to up the tempo in the second period. Indeed, it was the first opportunity to see JJ Kennedy in action for the Club and he didn't disappoint as given early ball he ghosted past one defender, jinked past another and placed a delicate chip into the corner before outpacing the defence to get the touch down, and with Philps adding the extras the score moved on to 17 - 10.

But again OA came back - it was easy to see why they had not lost all season - as they tried everything to narrow the gap. Their stronger runners in the backs - the Full Back in particular - tested Clapton's defences but Cam Furlong and Rupert Wood (son of Greg Wood, ex-Extra A Full Back c1985 and veteran of a number of games of that era with Carroll) met every attack with a solid wall through which nothing would pass.

And at the scrum a series of Number 8 pick ups were met by Satwick and Green who together snuffed out every attack before it could develop. OA worked very hard during this 15 minute period but were never allowed closer than 10 meters to the Clapton line. Finally relief seemed to be on hand as ball secured from a scrum was passed to Jake Philps who had evidently decided enough was enough. With a burst of speed and a ferocious hand off Philps broke past the OA Fly Half to begin a sweet move that saw Clapton sweep from deep within their 22 to the OA 10 meter line in a matter of seconds. With Creevy joining the line from Full Back a try seemed certain as the OA defences trailed behind the play but his pass to JJ was knocked from his hand and the OA winger rushed forward to run back into Clapton territory and score in the corner - 17 - 15. Agony!

So, with five minutes to play a real test for the improving As: who had the greatest will to win? It turned out that OA didn't have much say in the matter as a series of Clapton drives placed them in their guest's 22 before Maskell darted right into space and between two defenders. Support was on hand and slick passing resulted in Satwick crossing for his second try which he placed under the posts so that Philps could chip in the conversion - 24 - 15 and a great win against a strong lower side of a National League 2 club.

Next week the A XV return to Merit Table Action at Shelford where they'll be looking to maintain their position at the top of the table.

Team: Carroll (Stav 40 mins); Baccerra; Brown; Gardiner; Lindsal; Satwick; Massdorp (McDonald 40); Parris (Green (40); Maskell; R Stalley (Philps 5); Visser (JJ 40); Furlong; Wood; S Stalley (Vickery 65); Creevy

Tries: Visser; Satwick (2); JJ. Conv: Jake Philps x 2