Dings Crusaders travelled to Old Bristolians, who were looking to build upon last years 3rd place finish and strong performance in the Papa Johns cup, narrowly losing in the final. The BGS old boys lost their opening match of the season away to Nailsea and Backwell, however they were looking to get their season back on track with their 1st home fixture against a newly promoted side. Dings on the other hand were looking to continue their momentum following a convincing win over Bridgewater Albion.

A number of changes from last weeks victory, with Sam Hales, Jonasa Tabua and Max Rivers missing out returning to the 1sts whilst their were starts for Omar Ly, and Scott Hilton, son of Dave. Charlie Harkins made his debut at 8 whilst a shift of position of Greg Welling, to put the average age up in backline. Billy Marsden completing the bench.

Unlike many previous visits to Failand, there was sunshine and you didn’t need 21mm studs but typically there was no signal, so the Arsenal updates were slow to come through. It all set up for what turned out to be a high scoring game with both teams looking to keep the ball alive and play attacking expansive rugby.

It was Old Bristolians who were first on the team sheet, capitalising on a couple of transitions and loose defence to release the Old Bs winger to dot down to lead 5-0. Their early lead didn’t last long as Old Bs under a good kick chase from the restart, forced a knock on and gave Dings a great attacking opportunity. Unfortunate not to score wide, the ball was recycled into the midfield where Tabua was able to break through and finish, with O’Grady adding the extras.

A penalty to Dings and a kick to the corner, gave the visitors their first opportunity of a driving maul, which proved effective last week, duly delivered as O’Neil shunted over. Old Bs made it a 2 point ball game, pouncing on a loose ball and a cruel bounce with the lose forward scoring in the corner. Dings though were able to increase their lead though, following pressure from the resulting restart forcing a scrum allowing O’Grady to break blind and step the covering defense to crossover the whitewash.

Dings increased their lead, applying pressure through multiple phases allowing O’Grady to spray the ball into the hands of Ollie Smith to score his first of the game. Smith then assisted Omar Ly to score in the corner following another good line out platform and slick hands in the backs, releasing Ly to score and make it difficult for O’Grady to nudge over but still, over it went like a Luis Suarez.

Score at the oranges – Old Bs 12 Dings Crusaders 31

Despite the feeling of a momentum shift with Dings, it was Old Bristolians who struck 1st, with their abrasive winger breaking a number of tackles to dot down in the corner. Despite the Old Bs touch judges best efforts to say otherwise, the kick missed, which nearly had coach Knighter doing his best Wealdstone Raider impression. Old Bristolians started to make the game a little fruity as they scored again breaking through the backline following a scrum on the 5m line to make the game within a score. Dings however were able to keep them at arms length, with another lineout drive, a little closer to the 22, with the backs adding weight in helping the O’Neil to score.

Old Bristolians weren’t done though, with their fly half breaking through to give the supporting player the easiest of finishes. However the basketball game continued as Omar Ly was the next to score, following a break through the line from the fijian Tabua, the space presented on the other side, where the ball shifted for the industrious winger to score in the corner. As Old B’s threatened again to reduce the deficit, Smith like Clinton Baptiste, read the mind of the opposing centre, to intercept and run the ball in from 60ms.

Tabua got on the score sheet again, crashing over following a break and a pop up from Max Rivers. Rivers then became the villain receiving a yellow card for tackling a player without the ball and denying Old Bristolians a good attacking opportunity. Despite the numerical advantage, the game got a little Lionel (Messi) however silky deft touches allowed O’Grady to loop and put Ollie Smith in to complete his hatrick.
Old Bristolians scored with the final play of the game making use of the extra man.

Another high scoring game which now see’s the 2nd team score 134 points in their 1st two fixtures and puts them leading the ladder at this early stage. A couple of weeks break for the 2s until the team in lavender visit.

Final Score – 62 – 36

Trys
Ollie Smith x 3
Omar Ly x 2
O’Neil x 2
Tabua x 2
O’Grady x 1
Conv.
O’Grady x 6