Alcuin started the term in a winning manner with a 22-5 defeat of Vanbrugh in a stop-start affair at York R.I.
The whistle-happy referee was not afraid to give a penalty for even the slightest offence, meaning the game lacked flow at times, and three players were sent to the sin-bin despite it not being a dirty contest.
Vanbrugh enjoyed the early territory and put the Alcuin defence under pressure for a prolonged period. The Panthers stayed solid, however, and managed to work their way back up the pitch thanks to the boot of Marinus Maris, who gained his side valuable yards throughout the contest.
Vanbrugh came into the match as the underdogs, but it looked as if they had scored the first try, only for it to be disallowed for a knock-on. Vanbrugh found themselves with men over and Alex Beevers looked certain to run in for the first score, only for Alex Wilson to make a superb diving tap tackle, causing Beevers to knock the ball forward before putting the ball down.
The scoring was opened not long after, but down the other end of the pitch. The Alcuin forwards powered their way past their opposition and Andy Thompson was there to touch down and make it 5-0.
The scores stayed that way until half time, but the men in red and black added to their lead not long into the second period when centre James Evans touched down.
Alcuin had number 8 Sonny Dewfall sin-binned moments earlier for holding onto the ball in the tackle moments earlier, but it appeared to spur them on rather than affect their play. Thomas Lea made an excellent run to break into some space and the hooker offloaded to Liam Haeburn-Little. The diminutive Scotsman then fed Evans who ran in to make it 10-0, Maris missing a tricky conversion.
The odd pattern of a sin-binning followed by a try then continued when Alcuin prop Fred Isaac saw yellow, only for Dewfall to score minutes later. Matt Forrest offloaded to the number 8, who had recently returned to the field from his own time in the bin, and he ran in to make it 15-0.
Vanbrugh gave a battling performance reflected by their injury count. Jordan Gillies was forced to leave the field with a shoulder injury early on and Mark Boden found himself flat on his back on several occasions, but they were rewarded for their efforts with a try which game them a glimmer of hope with just under ten minutes to go.
Whilst down to 14 men thanks to Mark Gibbard’s yellow card, Vanbrugh’s man of the match and scrum half Toby Dyke crossed the line after Alcuin fell asleep at a set piece, which made it 15-5.
Rather than go into their shells and try and protect their narrowing advantage however, Alcuin came out in search of a fourth try, a try which would earn them an all important bonus point, and they got it thanks to man of the match Haeburn-Little. The winger broke through two tackles and strode over the line, scoring under the posts and giving Maris an easy conversion to round off the scoring at 22-5.
Alcuin captain Muzzy Foley, rarely one to have a serious word to say, told Vision after the game; ‘despite several blatant handballs from the Vanbrugh side we went on to get a great victory. Vanbrugh came here to win, but they didn’t’.
The Alcuin Panthers face Derwent next weekend, and will be looking for a strong performance against college rugby’s premier outfit.
Good to see captain selfish being as insiteful as ever!