59 - 12

Smith - Selfish!

Penn - Ubiquitous

Samuel - a brace

Quote of the day:

"Kev, like in so many areas of his life, where he lacks in skill, he makes up in enthusiasm"

Kev's wife!

After the opposition cried off for a second consecutive week it was with some confidence that an unbeaten BBB's travelled down the A3 to face another league 1st team. The last fixture against London Cornish was back in March 1996 when we narrowly defeated the London Cornish 3rd's by 34 points to 24. Match conditions were far from ideal with grey skies, a damp day and an uneven pitch better suited to grazing sheep than 15 man handling rugby. That said the wet pitch stood up fairly well and probably favoured the away side's contemporary and innovative style of play. Early on tries were exchanged and it was only in the second quarter that the Baa Baa's began to play their hallmark multi phased game and take command of a previously scrappy encounter.

At half time we were ahead by four tries to one, two having been scored by the fleet footed Samuels, one from a typically bullocking run from Ellis and one from the ubiquitous Penn. The score line however belied the aggressive intensity of the first half and it was clear that London Cornish had no intention of waving the white flag at this stage. The strength in depth of the Baa Baa's had been a key element in the first two wins of the season and again good use was made of numbers with Samuels and Crawford reluctantly making way for the eager Ritchie and Bowden.

The second half began in the same vain as the first with both sides probing for defensive weaknesses but within 15 minutes, despite the best efforts of a referee who was slightly out of his depth at this level, the Baa Baa's fine all round interplay began to pay dividends. Tries , from the direct running lines of Ritchie, increasingly selfish play of Smith and excellent support play of Romer-Lee, produced a further five tries which together with the accurate place kicking of Maltwood and the earlier substituted Samuels, resulted in a finishing score line of 59 - 12.

In the dying minutes of the game, the Baa Baa's could easily have stretched into the 60's but for the unlucky Penn who, after another magical break, was easily over hauled by the London Cornish III team reserve. London Cornish proved one of the hardest tackling sides we have come up against in recent seasons and their resolute defence never gave up. This was superbly illustrated by the London Cornish flanker, who receives the coveted award for Tackle of the Day, the unfortunate recipient being our own outstanding forward, Ashley Jones.

Well played by all.

Roger Smith

Team List:

Abrahams, Bowden, Jones, Crawford, Davidson, Romer-Lee, Ellis, Slee, Culley, Aird, Monroe, Richie G, Smith, Penn, Homan, Samuel, Maltwood