Vase joy for Old Glynonians (From Croydon Guardian)

Vase joy for Old Glynonians

4:59pm Monday 7th September 2009 in Rugby Union

Old Glynonians had the best possible start to their 2009 Season with a 27-8 win at Streatham & Croydon on Saturday, in the first round of the RFU National Vase.

Having met in the Quarter Finals of the Surrey Bowl last season, Ewell based Old Glynonians were keen to make amends for the defeat they suffered at the hands of Steatham to knock them out of the competition.

With both sides looking a little rusty after a long Summer, Streatham and Croydon appeared to to have the edge in opening exchanges.

The OG defence remained steadfast despite several penetrating breaks made by Streatham, and their stoicism paid off, being awarded a penalty at the 15 minute mark.

Flyhalf John Yates marginally missed this opportunity, and a second soon after, but it was a case of 3rd time lucky after a period of sustained pressure by the now confident OG pack.

The 3 point defecit seemed to act as a catalyst for Streatham, who bounced back with several cutting lines by their centres, creating a 2 on 1 overlap on the left wing.

A calculated gamble by OG Winger James Murray saw him intercept the critical final pass, resulting in a 60 metre breakaway try finished by No.7 Will Burn.

Yates converted the points with just minutes before the break, but this was long enough for Streatham to open their scoring account with a Penalty kick, leaving the score at a rather close 10-3 at half-time.

Streatham and Croydon returned strongly after the restart, and a series of pick and go's at the OG's line saw them cross the whitewash and close the gap to 2 points.

The OG's responded well, a noticably increased workrate by the forwards earning another penalty, which Yates duly converted.

The Flyhalf and eventual Man of the Match conducted affairs superbly in the Second Half, keeping sustained pressure on Streatham with a mixture of intelligent kicks and passing which unleashed a now threatening midfield.

One of these probing kicks led to the 3rd try of the match, which saw Ben Essex chase down a kick behind Streatham's line of defence.

The Winger's tackle and ensuing steal of the ball and offload allowed supporting Yates to score and convert to put the scores at 20-8.

2nd Half Super-sub Winger Jamie Poyner, made a dream debut to close off the game, scoring in the corner after some excellent forward and back interplay in the dying minutes. Yates converted to bring the final score to 27-8.

OG Captain Freddie Coventry summed up the general feeling- "It's great to start the Season with a Victory, particularly against a strong Croydon side that we lost to last year.

"The additional fitness the Team has done with Coach Bombay over the Summer really looks to be paying off, and the interplay between the forwards and backs was just superb. This will give us real confidence going into the League fixtures."