Dursley Rugby Football Club
Dursley R.F.C.
Registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club CASC since 2004
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Dursley 1st XV vs. Old Elizabethans 1st
25th March 2006
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Match Date: |
Saturday 25th March |
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Opposition: |
Old Elizabethans |
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Venue: |
Dursley RFC |
On Saturday Dursley entertained Old E’s in what was their last league game to be played at home this season. Just before kick off the sky opened up and a deluge of rain fell for what was the whole game. This thwarted any hopes of a champagne feast of rugby.
Dursley had a dream start and were soon benefiting from a line out on the visitors 22. A superb catch and drive ensued with Ted Turner leaping like a migrating salmon to secure the ball before the rest of the pack driving over the line to score the try within 5 minutes of the start.
This was to be Dursley’s only try of the game despite dominating all phases of the set piece from the scrummaging through to the lineouts.
Dursley were penalised at an attacking 5-metre scrum for a technical infringement, which even bemused the visiting pack, and with Dursley’s dominance prevented an almost certain try. With the rain falling persistently the handling skills of both teams were being tested to the fore, with the ball being ‘lost’ frequently the game descended into a stop start affair.
At half time the sides turned around with Dursley 5-0 ahead. From the restart Old E’s kept the home side pinned in their own half, with the conditions getting worse by the minute it was proving difficult to adapt. Dursley did manage to score a penalty to increase the lead slightly to 8-0.
The turning point in the game came when Old E’s were in possession in the Dursley 22, from what appeared a blatant knock on the referee declared playing advantage, without any visible sign of advantage being played the visitors scored a try.
With Old E’s now growing in confidence due to their good fortune they attacked with vigour forcing Dursley to defend for long periods, when the ball was turned over Dursley tried to clear their lines by kicking the ball deep into the opposition half. On 3 occasions the kick was too good and went long past the dead ball line resulting in scrum backs on each occasion, handing the advantage back to the visitors. From one such foray they attacked through the centre and after a simple missed tackle scampered over the line near the posts. With the added conversion the scores were now 8-12 to the visitors. With time running out Dursley were awarded a penalty just outside the 22, needing more that the 3 points they kicked for the corner in one final attempt to secure the win however it wasn’t to be and the chance was missed.
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