ALCUIN RAN IN six trys to inflict a hefty 38-0 defeat on Halifax, whilst also impressively shutting out the talented attacking outfit.
Despite some early ‘Fax pressure, the men in red and black opened the scoring with a perfectly executed backs’ move. Liam Haeburn-Little applied the finishing touches to make it 5-0.
Captain Muzzy Foley added another score not long later. The ball was spread across the back line and James Evans offloaded to Foley who went over in the corner. Marinus Maris converted with aplomb to give his side an early 12 point advantage.
Alcuin were playing with the wind in the first half and Maris frequently took advantage of the conditions with well placed territorial kicks. Halifax never really threatened the Alcuin try-line and before long they found themselves three trys down.
Joe Cooper touched down for the first of his hat-trick after yet another excellent play from the Alcuin backs and Maris dissected the posts to make it 19-0.
Cooper broke sevaral tackles to score again before half-time, and the Panthers went in at half time with a comfortable 24-0 lead.
With the wind and slope now in favour of Halifax, the men in blue and white had hopes to run in some trys of their own. Though they were undoubtedly an impressive running side in attack, Alcuin’s defence was more than a match for them.
By contrast, Alcuin had too much for ‘Fax going forward. Their pack made good ground in the 22 before the ball was once again spread wide, allowing Cooper to complete a hat-trick for which he was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ award. Maris’ conversion put Alcuin 31-0 ahead.
Up until now the backs had claimed all the glory despite the hard graft of the Alcuin forwards, Alex Wilson in particular putting in some bone-crunching tackles. Number 8 Sam Afahani gave the pack a much deserved try late on however.
The York Sport President drove over under the posts, giving Maris a simple conversion to round off the scoring at 38-0.
The ever insightful Muzzy Foley told Vision after the game; ‘Halifax were big, but so were the dinosaurs, and look what happened to them.’
With Alcuin now back to full strength and their top of the table clash with Derwent coming up on Sunday, the College Rugby league hangs delicately in the balance, awaiting this storming fixure.
Looking good JJ! x