All Blacks in derby triumph
Daventry All Blacks power their
way to an Alliance Cup victory.
A nail-biting finish to a lacklustre
game saw Daventry claw back a
17-point deficit to proceed to the next
stage of the Alliance Cup.
Bugbrooke were hoping to capitalise on
the home side's poor league form this
season and for the first 40 minutes, the
away side managed just that. They took
every opportunity to score three points
after an array of penalties were
conceded by the All Blacks.
This lead was further increased when
Bugbrooke managed to break from the base
of the scrum, evade several tackles and
score in the corner.
With the half-time score at 17-0,
Daventry attempted to regroup. But
handling mistakes and conceded penalties
continued and the home team only managed
to claw back three points.
It was in the final 15 minutes, with the
All Blacks 17-3 behind, that the team
began to perform to its true ability.
After a period of sustained pressure,
fly-half Alex Rose kicked a further
three points.
This was followed by a well-worked
line-out drive which led to a score from
Alistair Brighton. Rose converted.
With renewed spirit, and trailing by
five points, Daventry flooded into the
opposition half looking for the win.
After several attempts to break the
line, Adam Whitehead was able to power
his way over from the base of a ruck to
tie the game.
Rose was left with a conversion to put
the Blacks ahead, which despite the
pressure, was successful.
Several tense minutes ensued, but the
home side were able to withstand the
Bugbrooke pressure to secure a valuable
win.
Most impressive was the performance from
man of the match Martyn Skinner.
Scorers: Alistair Brighton, Adam
Whitehead.
Penalties: Alex Rose – 2
Conversions: Alex Rose – 2
