LSA suffer narrow loss.......

3 November 2007

By Matt Fendick

On Saturday LSA travelled down to the outskirts of Southampton to take on the Trojans, which was sure to be a tough test. Due to an incident on the motorways, the team was no further than their home ground after an hour in the team bus! As such, kick off was pushed back by 15 minutes, which allowed a very brief warm-up to take place. The rushed start to proceedings showed in the first few minutes as Trojans crossed for a simple score out wide. However, it wasn't long before the boys hit back with a well worked lineout move and after a sequence of rucks, Tiaan Visser emerged with the ball in hand after crossing the line. Vaughan Gilson narrowly missed the conversion attempt.

A consistent theme throughout the day was that both sides gifted each other possession with knock-ons, penalties and needless rushed passing of the ball. A yellow card didn't help the cause after a skirmish subsequent to a Trojans quick lineout attempt. However, this was cancelled out by a yellow to a Trojans player for an infringement at the lineout, which saw Captain Werner Swanepoel touching down after a good passage of phases. At this stage, it looked as though the team might finally be kicking into gear after the sluggish start. However, it was not to be as the opposition hit straight back from the uncollected kick off. Further setting of phases and a period of controlling the ball saw another yellow being issued to a Trojans player. Tiaan Visser picked up his second score of the day with a bullocking run down the left hand touch-line, the conversion once again being wide. Most of the play now was being conducted in the Trojans half and a well-worked option sent Brad Hall into the left hand corner. This brought to end a 50 minute half.

The second half saw some generous play by both sides, with numerous turnovers from set phase and open play being handed on a plate to respective opposition teams. A turn of events came about with the introduction of uncontested scrums as Trojans had used up their front row replacements. This significantly impacted the powerful scrumming platform which had been providing reasonable ball to the LSA backs. Centre Tom Howells went down with a neck injury and a lengthy break ensued. An introduction of replacements was hoped to bring some life into the team, although this was not to be unfortunately. It was largely to-and-fro for the rest of the match, with scrappy play being on show. Two further yellow cards were then issued to the Trojans for punches being thrown, with their 12 taking the remainder of the game off after picking up his second. Hopefully his team-mates have forgiven him after they also found themselves in the firing line of his tirade. A late shoulder charge on scrumhalf Gilson saw the Trojans lock take a 10 minute breather as well. However, this was nullified by a further yellow card issued to LSA after a player reacted to being tripped. A try by Trojans, crucially converted, left the game on a knife edge at 19-20 with 5 minutes to play. With a minute left, LSA conceded possession in the Trojans 22m. An attack down the far touchline saw Trojans making ground, and LSA repeatedly giving away penalties at the breakdown. This allowed our opponents to make further headway, and when a penalty was given close to the LSA 22m, it was no surprise that their flyhalf opted to go for poles, which he duly converted.

Thankfully the second half was only 60 minutes long, as any further play may not have been visible to players and spectators alike with the fading light having set in! A disappointing result for the boys, who know they have not done themselves justice with a poor performance. Not establishing their usual rhythm and failure to close out the game cost the team the desired result. However, with top of the table Warlingham ahead this weekend, the boys are keen to make amends with a better performance.

(Match to be replayed)