UCS Old Boys’ lead is blown away in defeat to Barnet Elizabethans

UCS Old Boys were defeated away at Barnet Elizabethans in a classic game of two halves, with the wind being a big factor as they lost a half-time lead and went down 13-7 in their Herts/Middlesex Division One encounter.

UCS took a 7-0 lead into the break after Alex Jayne’s try and a conversion from Alex Lowe – but they were pushed back into their own territory after the turn-around and conceded two scores.

With the wind behind them, the Old Boys exerted pressure at the start on a waterlogged pitch and it told as fly-half Lowe fed Will Jones, who punched through the initial tackle and then off-loaded as he was challenged by the full-back, with Jayne going over the line and Lowe adding the extras.

UCS suffered a blow as the referee decided to make some of the scrums uncontested due to the deteriorating pitch – an area where the visitors had the upper hand.

And, although they went into the break with the lead, it was a different story in the second period as the sides changed ends and the elements favoured Barnet.

A couple of soft penalties allowed the Elizabethans to win a 10m line-out and rumble over the line. The conversion was missed but the hosts added a penalty kick to go 8-7 ahead, while UCS missed one of their own – and an intercepted pass then allowed the hosts to run in another score.