LINCOLN 1ST XV 53
UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN RUGBY 12
BY JOSEPH VERNEY
PHOTO CREDIT: SOPHIE DENNISON
Captain Matt Keeton and Will Wood grabbed a brace of tries apiece as Lincoln’s 1st XV claimed an emphatic 53-12 win over the University of Lincoln.
Owen Hanson-Church, Louie Cooke, Josh White, Jack Randell and Will Dark also scored tries for Lincoln.
Lincoln’s remaining points came via the boot of Cooke who successfully slotted over four conversions.
Tom Mooney and Sam Chambers both scored tries for the University of Lincoln and captain Henry McCarthy kicked one conversion.
Lincoln opened the scoring after a period of consistent pressure on their opponents. After a great lineout move and a bit of forward power play, Sam Cave drove to within three metres of the line. The ball was then recycled twice to set up Hanson-Church to dive over for an unconverted try.
The hosts increased their lead when Jake Keeton produced a nice carry and fixed the defender before offloading to Cooke, who stepped a player and ran in for a try.
Lincoln continued to be in an attacking mood and took the ball forward with some great play on the left-hand side. After Will Dark chased a kick over the top, the University of Lincoln gave away a penalty for holding on the ground. Lincoln then recycled the ball twice in front of the posts before White ran through a gap to score a try, which Cooke converted.
A great 50-22 by Cooke then set up the move which led to Lincoln’s next try. After a lineout Lincoln recycled the ball twice and went close before a Gregan ball back inside from Lucian Morosan set up Keeton to power over for a try. Cooke added the extras.
After another strong lineout, Lincoln mauled the ball forward with only some good defence by the University team keeping them out. A set move off the 10 and back inside to Wood then saw the centre run through a gap to score a try, which Cooke converted.
Dark then caught a kick by the opposition before spreading the ball out wide to Cynyr Jones who made big yards forward. He then passed the ball before Lincoln were awarded a penalty a couple of phases later. After a quickly taken penalty,captain Keeton powered over for his second try of the match.
From the kick-off, Lincoln disrupted their opponent’s ball with some good phase play before spreading it out wide onto the right-hand side. After taking the ball back inside it bounced right and Wood picked it up, sidestepped two players and beat the cover defence to score a try to give Lincoln a commanding 41-0 lead going in at the break.
Lincoln were playing into the wind in dire conditions in the second half and, after a period of sustained pressure, the University team got onto the scoresheet. After great pod work from the forwards, Mooney read the game well and forced his way over the line for an unconverted try.
From the restart, the ball was kicked out on the full. After a good scrum, the University of Lincoln moved the ball out to the right-hand side. Wood did excellently to intercept the ball and carry it to the 22 before offloading for Randell to run in for a try under the posts. Cooke added the extras.
Lincoln then gave away a penalty and the away side kicked towards the corner on the left-hand side. After a lineout and maul move, a dummy pass was thrown by Chambers and he broke the line and slipped past another player to drive over the line for a try, which McCarthy converted.
From the kick-off, the away side kicked the ball out of their 22 onto Lincoln’s left-hand wing to Randell, who beat four players on a great run upfield. The ball was then recycled across the backs to create a three-on-two for Dark to score the final try of the match.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
After the match Lincoln 1st XV captain Matt Keeton said: “It was a good result for us and we played well for the majority of the game, especially in some horrendous weather conditions.
“We stuck to our structure for the most part, and were dominant in our set pieces.
“Credit must go to the Uni though as they never gave up for the whole 80 minutes.
“I would also like to give a special mention to Ben Noble who had a brilliant game.”
University of Lincoln captain Henry McCarthy said: “The boys dug in rising to the occasion as we knew it would be a tough game from the get go, but we did not let this get us down.
“It took us a while to get into the game. However, in the second half we managed to play our rugby with some ball in hand and great work from our forwards who worked tirelessly all game.
“However, due to us defending for most of the game we were not able to impose ourselves on the match.”
