On Sunday 5th February the Lambs were due to play Coventry at Butts Park. This game was
proposed earlier in the week for several different reasons. After searching for another fixture
Luctonians Colts who were last year’s national cup quarter-finalist stepped up to the plate.
The game started off at a furious pace with Zebedee Gibson (Sir Thomas Rich’s) setting the
tone with some crunching chop tackles in the early exchanges. Poor Lambs’ discipline saw
Luctonians build territory by picking up penalties and kicking well into the corner. Fifteen
minutes of relentless pressure brought Luctonains into five meters of the Lambs line. A
well-worked lineout and maul set-up saw Luctonians roll over in the corner.
This worked the Lambs up who had been struggling to live with Luctionian’s pressure. Arthur
Chads (Seaford College), was testing Luctonians defence around the fringes and putting some
clever kicks in behind. After a sustained period of pressure, Harrison Milner (The King’s School in Macclesfield) threw a dummy which sent defenders the wrong way, opening the scoring for
Lambs.
The Lambs had found their rhythm, Usher who was pulling the strings once threw an impressive twenty-metre pass to tight head prop Oliver Wigmans who found himself on the wing with a destructive carry down the left-hand touchline. On the front foot, George Melik (Worth School) was freed up, who played in the devastating finisher Max Pattison(Sir Thomas Rich’s) a metre before he was pulled down illegally resulting in a Penalty try 12-7.
For the rest of the second half, Luctonains demonstrated their dogged defence, soaking up the Lambs, finding their groove playing fast and free. However, could not quite find the final pass.
Half Time Luctonians 7-12 Lambs
The second half started with Lambs’ dominance, with Usher tip-toeing through and dotting down underneath the post. 19-7 Lambs. From the kick-off Lambs typically tried to play the ball out from their own twenty-two was met by a solid wall, a great penalty off a turnover, seeing Lambs finding themselves back in the corner in front of a lively home crowd. Another well-worked maul powering over 19-12.
Clearly, Luctonians started to show their class, a very well-structured side constantly getting
over the gain line and able to sustain pressure through a great kicking game. Minutes later
another penalty found Luctonians 5 metres out again. Using their great weapon, which the
Lambs had no answers for, Luctionians crash over to level things up 19-19.
The game continued to toss and turn with Lewis Wadsworth (Grammar School at Leeds)
threatening up the near touchline. In the dying seconds, The Lambs conceded a penalty 40
metres out in the middle of the pitch. Luctionians number 10, and coolly struck it between the
uprights. 23-19 Luctonians.
In a contrast in styles, Luctionians came out on top in a nip-and-tuck affair. National Manager
James Vecchio quoted ‘A massive thank you to Luctonians for the fixture and being great hosts today. I couldn’t be prouder of the boys’ endeavour to play- some great talent on display, I personally think the boys will have learnt a lot from today. It has also been great to see thirty-two players representing the lambs in the first two fixtures and we look forward to our fixtures.’
Lambs Player of The Match was Max Pattison (Sir Thomas Rich’s).
Next week the Lambs head take on The Boys Club of Wales, at Porthcawl RFC. Which
promises to be another cracking game.
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