LSA vs Cranleigh

Saturday 24th February 2007

By our resident journo, Matt Fendick.

A massive day dawned down at Thames Ditton this past Saturday. With the title and promotion battles still underway, a key weekend was about to materialise. The week's preparations had gone decidedly well, and the focus prior to this fixture was imminent amongst the squad. The initial fixture had been a hard-fought physical battle, and we were expecting no less this time around.

Getting down to the Theatre of Dreams early had allowed us to take in some of the Shield XV's game, which got the adrenaline flowing sufficiently. With ample time in hand, the boys went through the pre-game routines and warm-up in detail. Prior to kick-off, there had been no sign of our opposition; however, as the final whistle blew for the Shield team's match, the vociferous Cranleigh supporters announced their collective arrival.

The game began with a low drop-kick form the Cranleigh 10, which was fielded by the forwards who set up a good platform for the backs to launch themselves down the left hand 15 metre channel. With field position set, the first 6 minutes saw Anton Kriel cross the line, followed by Dave Kelly finishing off a weaving angled run from outside centre Trevor Grundelingh. With the score at 12-0, LSA knew they had to persist with the slick handling skills and interplay between forwards and backs that were on display in order to press home the territorial advantage they were enjoying. Numerous gaps were on display at this stage, and with Cranleigh failing to react to a quick throw in from winger Dave Kelly 40m out from the opposition try-line, Nick de Kock touched down in the right hand corner after some good hands along the line exploiting the full width of the field. Christiaan van Rooyen was the next to break the Cranleigh defensive line - good lineout work and subsequent rucking and mauling left LSA 5m out with runners to burn; van Rooyen taking a pass off flyhalf Matt Fendick to burst over for the 5 points.

It wasn't all one-sided from this stage on. LSA proceeded to give away a few needless penalties, and with a bit of niggle creeping into the game, composure and patience was slightly frayed. This allowed the visitors to creep back into the LSA half, and enjoy a large period of play pressing for a score from within their hosts's 22. Two kickable penalties were missed by the fullback, meaning for that for their considerable efforts, they had no return. Courageous defence saw the well-practiced Cranleigh lineout catch-and-drive moves being repelled on numerous occasions, with one particular move being held up. The scrum had operated brilliantly for the first half and it was through this that LSA managed to find some relief after a tighthead. A penalty banged deep into opposition territory saw a lengthy passage of phases being finished off by captain Werner Swanepoel after scrumhalf Vaughan Gilson broke blind. Indeed it was Gilson again who unleashed Nick de Kock next - following a further quick throw and jinking run, a bullet pass found the winger with space and pace to burn. Unfortunately he was hauled down metres short as he changed from 4th gear into 5th.

Although 29-0 down at this stage, Cranleigh fought back strongly, returning to their tried and tested mauling game. Their pack had the use of most of the possession in the final few minutes of the half, and only some sizeable tackles and collective defence kept them out of the scoring zone. However, a minute from time one such tackle slipped a bit high and saw the referee give Bok van Rooyen an additional 10 minutes rest on the sideline.

LSA kicked off to start the second half, and by the determined run exhibited via their one prop knew that a hard task was ahead even though a comfortable lead was on the scoreboard. And so began a frustrating 25 minutes of play, with more and more off-the-ball infringements taking place. Trevor Grundelingh departed for the remainder of the game, although his sparring partner can consider himself lucky not to have joined him. The handbags on the pitch seemed to spur on the away support, who had also chosen LSA's number 9 as their victim for the day. Perhaps having seen a few Tetley Rooibos promotions of late, Vaughan was confused for the now injured John Turner. We were all delighted to hear that one of Cranleigh's supporters had, in fact, taken a picture of him, framed it and put it in their bar. LSA's other male model, Tiaan Visser, seemed to take exception to being excluded from the banter and no doubt his agent will not be delighted at how he put his body on the line the whole afternoon.

Focussing back on the rugby, the deadlock was finally breached after a typically robust drive from the skipper, knocking over would-be defenders like skittles in a bowling alley. This set up Dave Blackburn, returning to the Number 12 berth, to score another 5-pointer. Anyone hoping this try would kick-start the momentum would have been disappointed. Play was consistently between respective 10-metre lines, and in all fairness Cranleigh had the superior share of territory. A surprisingly high penalty count negated any good work that LSA put together. However, a turnover of possession saw express pace-man Malcolm Mirfin being put away, who galloped down the touchline before putting in a deft kick, which resulted in a foot race between himself and Dave Kelly, both of whom are claiming the try. The final five minutes revealed nothing out-of-the ordinary - this includes try-scoring veteran Nick Osman taking to the pitch and scoring with the last touch of the game after a succession of phases was strung together.

End score: 46 - 0.

Ultimately the desired result was achieved, although the focus was dropped after the initial blitzkrieg in the first half. Another big performance required this weekend away to Wellingtonians - a key fixture and one everyone has been looking forward to since the first fixture. As always, your support is most welcome and appreciated!

Pictures provided: LSA v Old Emmanuel 17th Feb 2007