Herts/Middlesex One: UCS Old Boys 20 Royston 46

UCS Old Boys gave a spirited display in defeat after going down 46-20 at home to Royston in Herts/Middlesex One/

Old Boys scored first with a darting corner try in the first five minutes by wing James Cooper, catching the opposition defence before they had really woken up, but the conversion was missed.

After fifteen minutes, a mauling drive-over corner try from the heavy Royston pack was converted to make it 7-5 to the visitors.

Two minutes later, Royston scored again when their wing crossed in the corner from an attacking move along the line, with the extras added.

Despite some grafting competitive rugby from UCS for the next ten minutes, a Royston centre broke through the defence after 28 minutes to give a final pass to a wing for another corner try, though the resulting conversion was missed.

Four minutes later, the visitors scored a forwards’ try from a lineout which was unconverted, taking their lead to 24-5 by half time.

At the beginning of the second period, a penalty from Royston and another converted forwards’ pushover try under the posts caused home heads to drop.

However, UCS showed resilience under pressure, which led to a nimble burst-through try from Jack Gourlay, though a much-needed conversion was not forthcoming as the hosts closed the gap to 34-10.

Going into the last quarter, a Royston prop took the ball through a gap on the five-metre line to burst over between the posts and touch down for a try that was to be converted.

A chip kick from Royston’s fly-half allowed their wing to cross for another try, but the conversion was missed with the visitors leading 46-10.

Old Boys’ stamina and perseverance was not to be denied, however, and a fightback ensued in the last seven minutes.

Fly-half Charlie Esdon chip-kicked over the opposition defence, which centre Tom Arnold caught and touched the ball down near the corner, but the extras were not added.

In the final two minutes Henry Day passed to Chris Bean, who in turn found Esdon to cross for another unconverted try to round out the scoring.

UCS are next in action in the league on March 3 when they make the trip to Saracens Amateurs.