Alcester snatch victory at the death - The Redditch Standard

Alcester snatch victory at the death

Redditch Editorial 12th Mar, 2018   0

Old Wheatleyans 18 Alcester 22

Midlands Three West (South)

IT TURNED out to be a profitable week for Alcester RFC as all three sides secured victories, including the first team whose win in Coventry on Saturday saw them climb into fifth place.

However, the match went right to the wire as the visitors needed a last-minute try to see off their bottom of the table opponents in a physical encounter.




Like many a game this season, Alcester were soon on the back foot as the home side scored directly from a lineout on Alcester’s 22m line.

An early substitution saw Lee Avery-Sherwood come on to the field and it was Avery-Sherwood who crashed through the home defence to set up Jack Green for his first try of the game.


Alcester centre Jamie Harland scored a try betwen the posts to make it two tries apiece at half time but Max Biltcliffe’s accurate boot gave Alcester a 14-10 lead thanks to two conversions.

In difficult conditions on a waterlogged pitch this was a scrappy game that swung one way and then the other and Old Wheatleyans came out fighting in the second half, dominating for long periods after an early try put them back into the lead.

The teams then traded penalty kicks, leaving the home side 18-17 up going into the last five minutes.

However, Green was determined his team would not be beaten and, whilst playing at full back after an injury to Oscar Holland, he kicked over the top. Side by side with his brother Josh O’Connor, they chased down the kick and O’Connor turned the ball over and passed to Green who dived over to score and win the match.

Alcester now turn their attentions to hosting second-placed Old Leamingtonians on Saturday, looking to close a nine-point gap between the sides in the first of five remaining league fixtures.

ALCESTER 2nds battled hard on a boggy pitch to win 20-5 against Old Laurentians 3rds.

Jake Grainger scored the only points of the first half to give Alcester a 5-0 lead at the break.

The game was slow and scrappy and consisted of many dropped balls, but Alcester ploughed on to score three second-half tries as Carwyn Dickenson doubled their score before the third and best try of the match soon followed when a lineout on the 22m line formed a driving maul which eventually led to Gaz Morgan crashing over the line.

Grainger then scored his second try of the game after handing off several opponents before Old Laurentians scored the final try of the match.

Chris Howell was named Alcester’s man of the match and is likely to be competing for a first team place in a few weeks’ time.

The 2nds play their annual friendly against Birmingham Medical Students on Saturday.

ALCESTER 3rds emerged 39-36 victors over Kings Norton last Wednesday.

First team ace and top try-scorer Jack Green scored a hat-trick whilst Steve Mason scored two and Phil Birks the other Alcester try.

Alcester were 12-7 up at half-time but found themselves drawing the match with only two minutes left to play.

However, a penalty kick slotted over by Paul Taylor clinched the last-minute victory.

Taylor also kicked three conversions for Alcester, who gave debuts to numerous players. Credit goes to Nick Giess and Dave Pope.

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