Thursday 18 April 2013

Scorpions create Rugby League history with victory at Oxford

South Wales Scorpions coach Dave Clark was pleased with his side’s “important” history making 22-20 victory at Oxford as his side triumphed in the first ever RL match to be held at the new club’s Iffley Road ground.

The win was due to the accuracy of Courtney Davies’ kicking as he landed three conversions to Jonny Leather’s two after both sides grounded four tries each.

But Clark was quick to praise his side’s defence that kept them in the game as they at one point kept out three consecutive sets of six near to their own line.

“I think coming off the back of three losses it was important for us to get a win and keep us in touch with sides at the top of the [table],” he said. “It’s only the second round and early days, but with Oxford being a new side in this competition we should be competing well against them.

“[It] was an important game for us. It was the result we wanted, but performance-wise we played under par with our core skills and we allowed them to walk up the field, give them a good position and the opportunity to score tries. [But] our mentality in defence was really good though and that probably won us the game.”

The weather was atrocious, but 352 hardy souls braved it and voiced their support in Oxford Rugby League’s first ever home match.

It was even throughout, and the scoring was try for try for the entire 80 minutes. Oxford deserved a draw and could have got one, scoring their fourth try in the final minute and, had the experienced Leather kicked a successful conversion rather than slicing the ball wide, they would have picked up two points rather than their solitary bonus point.

From an early penalty, Scorpions looked for the first try of the game, but James Greenwood spilled the already slippery ball and the chance was lost.

At the other end, Alex Thompson almost gave Oxford the lead as he dived over the line from short range but he too mishandled.

The visitors were first to score when on 12 minutes, Steve Parry kicked a grubber under the sticks and Greenwood pounced, with Davies converting.

Oxford levelled on 21 minutes when Valu Bentley was on the end of a high hopeful kick that slipped past the Scorpions back-line. Leather added the extras.

Scorpions came back again and led on the half hour with a Shae Lyon-Fraser try which Davies converted, before Oxford hit back near to half-time when Sean Morris stormed through into the corner. Leather missed on this occasion.

Matt Fiander was close to a third try for Oxford, but was stopped on the line, meaning that the Scorpions had a slender two-point lead at the interval.

After an early second half Oxford chance, the south Wales side extended their advantage on 57 minutes when Rhodri Lloyd picked up a loose ball and had a relatively easy sprint to score. Davies, though, missed the kick attempt.

Again Oxford came back after Leather picked up a stray ball on his own 10 metre line and sprinted virtually the length of the field, converting his own try to level the scores again with a remarkable passage of play.

But the Scorpions were intent on spoiling their big day and regained the lead again with six minutes left on the clock when Chris Leyshon scored out on the wing and Davies kicked the tricky conversion.

The drama continued right into the final minute. Shaun Robinson scored for Oxford in the corner which meant Leather was under pressure to earn his side a draw, but couldn’t cope with the challenge and the visitors came away with the narrow win.

The Scorpions have no game this coming weekend as they’re already out of the Challenge Cup. They return to action on April 28 when they host Rochdale Hornets at The Gnoll, their last game at home for almost two months as the pitch is due to get its annual renovation treatment.

Clark, though, would have preferred to have had a game this weekend and says the players didn’t need the rest, saying: “A lot of the other sides will have a game, so we’ll be behind in regards to conditioning. That’s something we have to focus on, have a mini pre-season and keep the boys focussed for the Rochdale game, which I’m sure will be another close encounter.”

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