LINCOLN IMPS/3RD XV 12
UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN 1ST/2ND XV 34
BY JOSEPH VERNEY
PHOTO CREDIT: BRIAN PENNEY & MIKE LINCOLN
Lincoln battled bravely throughout the match, but tries from Sam Cave and Olly Stringer couldn’t prevent a 34-12 defeat at home against a University of Lincoln XV.
The university side, which was made up of first and second team players, started strongly and opened the scoring after just three minutes.
Henry McCarthy spotted an opening between the centres and offloaded the ball to second team captain Sam Maunder, who ran a hard line and shrugged off a Lincoln player on his way to scoring a try.
McCarthy, who was named as the University’s man-of-the-match, successfully slotted over the conversion.
Tom Curtis-Evans handed off one player and bumped off another before scoring a try to give the University side a 12-0 lead going in at the break.
Lincoln, who played with a mix of second and third team players, reduced the deficit after 58 minutes. Jacob Taylor, who captained the hosts on the day, drew the defence in and popped the ball back inside for Cave to drive over for a try.
The visitors restored their 12-point advantage just a minute later when Alexandru Enache found a gap after a pick and go from a ruck to go over for a try.
A similar try followed for the visitors soon after as Owen Mason found a gap, put his head down and ran for the line before scoring in the left-hand corner.
Lincoln reduced the deficit when Stringer caught the ball high above his head before stepping off his right foot and bursting through a hole in the defence.
Stringer then bounced off two defenders and dragged a third over the line as he reached out to score a try, which Luke Brodrick converted.
The University side made sure of the victory with two tries in the last ten minutes of the match.
Paddy Dobie offloaded the ball on halfway to Curtis-Evans, who pushed off one tackle and handed off another player before sprinting clear for a try.
First team captain David Munro beat two players from halfway before going over for a try under the posts, which McCarthy converted to complete the scoring.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
Lincoln captain Jacob Taylor said: “It was a smashing performance, sadly let down our by pace and the fitness from the Uni boys.
“There was nothing to be ashamed of though as every man gave their all on the pitch.”
Lincoln try scorer Sam Cave added: “I think as a team we played very well. Obviously it wasn’t the result we wanted but we showed real threat in attack and overall a strong show in defence.”
The University of Lincoln’s second team captain Sam Maunder said: “It was a good bit of chemistry from us, especially considering we had a lot of new players.
“There is a lot of room for development but we also have a lot of promising talent and we hope to grow on that.”
