Sussex "Canterbury Jack" Intermediate League
St Francis 19 Barns Green 17
Bright winter sunshine greeted players and spectators alike at an otherwise cold, windy and muddy Southgate playing fields for this local derby on Saturday afternoon. Playing with the advantage of the wind in the first half, it was Saints who opened the scoring after ten minutes when full back John McShane made a darting break down the right wing, outpacing the opposition. As he cut inside fifteen metres from the try line he stumbled and fell, but was still able to release the ball to his team-mate Paul Smith who touched down near the posts. The relatively easy conversion was missed by Shane Kenny, due to the unavailability of a kicking tee. As the game unravelled St Francis were fortunate they did not come to rue this lack of attention to a minor detail.
Saints backs continued to make the most of their possession but were met with solid resistance by opposition who were determined in the tackle. The second Saints try after twenty five minutes originated from a Barns Green scrum deep in the St Francis half. With solid support from his pack, Adie Perry took a strike against the head. Scrum half Alan McArdle collected the ball and, with the element of surprise on his side, made a break down the blindside. Sensing he was about to be caught, McArdle cleverly kicked the ball ahead. With fortune favouring the brave, the ball bounced kindly into the hands of the speedy Alper Aydin twenty metres out and he had no difficulty outpacing the Barns Green defence to score under the posts. With a kicking tee now located, Kenny comfotably added the conversion. Barns Green replied with a penalty kick after thirty five minutes following an infringement by Saints forwards at a ruck. When the youthful referee blew the half-time whistle, St Francis had a comfortable 12-3 lead.
Saints forwards continued to have the better of the exchanges at the start of the second half. They were often able to steal the ball in contact situations and with clever sniping from McArdle bringing his backs into play, it seemed only a matter of time before Saints added to their lead. When Barns Green did manage to make progress down the pitch they would run into Saints number 8 Shannon Millard, who would appear at vital moments to thwart a Barns Green attack and, at the same time, turn it into a Saints attack. Saints came closest to scoring when a break by Jude Harrison saw him make thirty metres down the middle of the pitch. Just before he was caught he chipped the ball into the twenty two metre area where Tony Parsons, showing a fine turn of pace for a second row, appeared in support to collect the ball before Barns Green were able to get numbers behind the ball and snuff out the threat.
As the game entered the final seven minutes with no further scoring from either side, few could have predicted the excitement which was to follow, with a double twist not seen since Roald Dahl wrote his "Tales of the unexpected". Barns Green had three lineouts in quick succession on the left hand side of the pitch in line with Saint's twenty-two metre line. From the third lineout, the Barns Green scrum half showed a touch of individual brilliance and evaded the despairing Saints tacklers to touch down in the left hand corner by the clubhouse. With the conversion expertly added by the fly half Barns Green were back in the game at 12-10 and Saints were visibly tiring. As if to show that the last play was not a fluke the Barns Green scrum half repeated the performance, again leaving St Francis tacklers trailing in his wake to score a try in the left hand corner. Again the conversion was expertly added and Barns Green had turned the match on its head to lead 17-12 lead with four minutes remaining.
Ignoring the mutterings of discontent from the sidelines, Saints set about pushing play into the Barns Green twenty-two metre area. Saints had a couple of forward drives but when Barns Green were awarded a scrum on their five metre line the smart money would have been on them securing the ball and kicking to touch to conclude the match. As the ball came into the scrum the Saints forwards dug deep into their reserves and pushed Barns Green off the ball and over the try line for Shannon Millard to touch down. Shane Kenny, with kicking tee in place, kept his nerve to slot home the conversion as the final whistle sounded to give St Francis a 19-17 victory. Saints deserved their victory for the spirit, determination and teamwork they had shown throughout the match but it was a little too close for comfort.
Team - McGahan, Perry, Arney (Singh), Parsons, Trevaskis, Callan, Stephenson, Millard, McArdle, Kenny, Aydin, Smith, Harrison, Blake, McShane.