ALL GOLDS SNATCH DRAW AT THE DEATH

BRISTOL ALL GOLDS 16 – 16 NORTH HERTS CRUSADERS

Christopher Wilson at Oaklands

SUMMARY

A last-minute try from wing Leon Atherton earned the Bristol All Golds a share of the spoils after the North Herts Crusaders had come back from 12-0 down to seemingly snatch the game with a 74th minute score.

The All Golds were relieved to get something from this game as they raced to an early lead with tries from Josh Fitzgerald and Darrion Ball, converted by Ball.

However, the Crusaders edged their way back into the game with a score before half-time. Two further tries drew them level with a quarter of the game remaining, and their late try seemed to have sealed a famous win. However, the All Golds immediately responded to going behind with Atherton’s late score.

Ball missed the conversion that would have given his side the win, but they will be thankful the Crusaders missed all four of their attempts at goal, any one of which would have given them the points.

FULL REPORT

A last-minute try from wing Leon Atherton salvaged a point for the Bristol All Golds after the North Herts Crusaders came back from 12-0 down to lead late in the game.

The All Golds had started well with two tries in the first ten minutes, but the Crusaders chipped away at the deficit and took the lead with under five minutes to play.

The visitors scored four tries to the All Golds’ three but their goalkicking let them down as they failed to land any of their four attempts.

Three months ago, All Golds got their season off to a flying start with a big win over the Crusaders in Hitchen and they started in a similar vein in the reverse fixture under grey skies and drizzly rain.

The home side were looking to build on their fine performance against defending champions Hammersmith in their last game a fortnight ago and got off to the perfect start.

The Crusaders made a hash of the kick-off, handing the All Golds excellent field position and Josh Fitzgerald found a hole in the defence to score his first try for the All Golds under the posts with barely 100 seconds on the watch.

Darrion Ball added the goal and was instrumental in the All Golds’ second score after eight minutes when his chip to the wing found Atherton who made ground upfield. Play was taken on by Ed Tait and Ball was on hand to receive the offload and coast over the line.

Again, the goal was added for a 12-0 advantage.

However, the home side had had a couple of scares between those two scores as Greg Hamilton’s clearance kick had been charged down, though Hamilton recovered the ball and the Crusaders had fumbled away possession under pressure on the home line in their first attacking set.

The balance of play began to shift as both sides traded set for set and the Crusaders’ up-and-in defence began to stifle the All Golds who were channelled up the middle and unable to free their outside backs.

Just before the half hour mark, an All Golds error gave the visitors good field position and after two sets and a penalty, they expertly created a two on one on the wing and Liam Schofield crossed in the corner.

As the half drew to a close the All Golds had an opportunity to extend their lead, but Jack Uren was held up over the line.

The second half continued in much the same way, but the All Golds frittered away possession with handling errors and poor decision-making thanks to the pressure of the Crusaders defence.

After 50 minutes an unnecessary pass went to ground, and the Crusaders exploited the gift by creating a carbon copy of their first try by exposing the All Golds’ right edge for Schofield to again cross in the corner.

Back-to-back penalties gave the visitors a chance of points immediately afterwards but they lost the ball over the line to give the All Golds a relieving 20m restart.

However, they soon lost possession and after a series of errors from both sides the All Golds lost Ball to the sin bin after he complained too loudly when the ball had been stolen in the tackle.

Five minutes later, the Crusaders levelled matters with their third try, Joe Allison weaving through the defence to score, Oliver Adams’ kick to give them the lead slid the wrong side of a post.

The All Golds had their only period of sustained pressure after that score as they searched for the winner, forcing a goal-line drop-out, but four consecutive sets ended meekly in an error and the Crusaders survived.

Not only that, they also managed a score themselves with a good last-tackle play ending with Chris Gibbs exposing once again the All Golds’ right side and scoring himself despite a two-man overlap. Again, player coach Adams was narrowly wide with the kick but with barely three minutes to go his side led 16-12.

It was do or die for the All Golds and they did well to recover the restart and press the Crusaders’ line. With what was the last play, they finally found a hint of a gap and Ball put Atherton over in the corner to level the scores.

Ball had a difficult kick to win the game, but his effort shaved the outside of the posts and both sides had to settle for a draw.

Given the lateness of the equalising try, the All Golds would regard the result as a win rather than the loss they felt over the draw at Brentwood back in May. However, the Crusaders might consider it a loss given that they scored four tries to three but failed to land their goals, any one of which would have seen them take both points.

In a fortnight, the All Golds travel to Bedford to face the Tigers in what is likely to be an equally tough encounter as the season enters its final stages.

MatchStats

Teams:

ALL GOLDS: Darrion Ball; Leon Atherton, Greg Hamilton, Will Armour, Dom Williams; Josh Fitzgerald, Fiach Millward; Brandon Ball, Sol Platt, Tom Baxter; Ed Tait, Harry Mills; Jack Uren (Capt.); INTERCHANGE: Conor McGrath, Oghenetaga Rume-Tabiowo, Mason Ball, Adam Turner. (18th Man: Kieran Harvey)

Scorers

Tries: Fitzgerald (1), D. Ball (8), Atherton (79)

Goals: D. Ball 2 from 3.

CRUSADERS: Sam Bellinger; Will Hunter, Joe Allison, Alex Bowles, Liam Schofield; Jared Scott, Oliver Adams; Glynn Hughes (Capt.), Will Evans, Brendan Hunt; Callam Hall, Joe Hunter; Tom Hamer; INTERCHANGE: Chris Gibbs, Luke De Normanville, James Akrill, Jude Schoeman.

Scorers:

Tries: Schofield (27, 51), Allison (66), Gibbs (76)

Goals: Allison 0 from 1, Adams 0 from 3.

Scoring sequence: 6-0, 12-0, 12-4, (HT), 12-8, 12-12, 12-16, 16-16, (FT)

Penalties: All Golds 6-11 Crusaders

Referee: Kristoff Young (RFL)

All Golds Player of the Match: Leon Atherton salvaged a point for his side with a well-taken last-minute try. He defended well and was dangerous when given space on the counter which, sadly for the All Golds, was all too rare.