OAs 62 - Taunton 7 (Match Report)

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Taunton suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they were on the wrong end of a 62-7 loss on the road to Old Albanians.

The result against fifth placed Old Albanians, a side fancied to be in the mix at the business end of the season and with strong links to Premiership side Saracens, was expected based on recent results. By quite how much however, was not. It was clear from the start that the afternoon would be a challenge when the hosts opened the scoring immediately. Centre Terry Adams crossed for a try converted by full back Richard Gregg all within a minute of the game kicking off.

Taunton worked hard to respond and the remainder of the opening quarter was an evenly matched affair with Taunton perhaps edging it, looking lively with the ball in hand and solid in defence. They had an early chance to put points on the board having forced the home side to concede a penalty in the danger area but unfortunately the boot of Gary Kingdom was unable to convert it in the windy conditions.

They lost the experienced Sam Alford to injury after 20 minutes giving the young Joe Bartlett his opportunity and after a second penalty in the danger area was conceded another chance to put three points on the board was to be had. This time the upright denied the boot of Kingdom. Despite Taunton’s hard work and efforts in both attack and defence OA’s doubled their lead when scrum half Jean-Baptise Bruzulier picked up from the breakdown to dart over the blind side. Gregg added the conversion.

A third penalty attempt for Kingdom followed but was once again narrowly wide having been held up by the wind leaving Taunton with nothing to show for their efforts. They fell further behind with Adams going over for his second try of the afternoon following a smart OA’s break from their own 22 successfully converted by Gregg.

A fourth was added by Lloyd Bickle late in the half securing a try scoring bonus point. The second row was in support and provided a tidy show-and-go that flat footed the defence leaving the path clear for a thirty metre canter to the whitewash. Gregg was again successful with the conversion giving the hosts a 28-0 lead at half time.

The second half started as the first had finished with little between the teams and Taunton could have been forgiven for wondering how they ended up so far behind when after ten minutes OA’s added another. Adams found and exploited the space to secure his hattrick with Gregg again slotting the conversion.

The impressive Bruzulier, a current member of Saracens Academy, added his second with another dart down the blind side catching out the Taunton defence. Gregg failed with the conversion attempt but OA’s now held an unassailable lead and could throw caution to the wind with the match going into the final quarter.

Taunton’s luck was not about to change for the better and their woes were compounded when Jason Luff was replaced by Matt Humphries, only for Humphries to then be forced from the field with an injury only three minutes after coming on.

A scrum penalty resulted in Bruzulier taking a quick tap which split the Taunton defence and his pass to the supporting Ollie Cooper-Millar was perfectly timed allowing the flanker to go over unopposed for a try. Gregg missed with his conversion attempt for the second time.

Bruzulier completed the second hattrick of the afternoon when he made another break down the short side, this time from in his own 22 following a neat flick by former Saracens and London Irish back row Paul Gustard from the base of the scrum. Bruzulier fed his wing and continued in support taking the return pass with a clear run to score under the posts. Gregg ensured another maximum was added to the scoreboard with the conversion taking them over the half century.

Despite this further set back Taunton continued to work hard and did not look like a side put so emphatically to the slaughter. Sam Prior made ground with his carries and the back row triumvirate of Sean Fox, Dean Menzies-Taylor and Liam Wilkinson worked hard all afternoon in attack and tirelessly in defence. Bartlett demonstrated that he was perfectly able at this level with a solid display whilst Tom Popham also continued to show well along with his wing partner Reuben Haile.

Although it was scant consolation for their efforts a period camped in the hosts 22 in the last ten minutes was rewarded when Prior, playing in the second row due to injuries and unavailability of all other registered boiler room toilers, pumped his legs and burrowed his way over the line under the covering defence. Kingdom added the extra two points but it was still to be a long journey home.

With the full eighty minutes on the clock both sides would have been happy to hear the final whistle but the referee played the added time created from stoppages. This allowed the home side to finish with a flurry of two tries in the closing two minutes.

Former Australia U21 and Bedford prop Marco Cecere got the first after coasting through some tired tackling before Adams collected his fourth of the afternoon after picking up a loose ball in the midfield. Gregg was unsuccessful with both attempts to add the extras but that did not matter with the final whistle leaving OA’s with a convincing but hard earned 62-7 victory.

The score line certainly does not reflect the performance or the game but Taunton now find themselves in the bottom three tied on points with Dings Crusaders and Hertford whilst Barnes are only a point and one position below them in the table. They will need to dig deep to salvage what they can from the season and the coaches and team will be working hard to banish their frustrations and turn things around, starting with the visit of Clifton to Hyde Park this coming Saturday.