Warwick Hounded Out
The Greyhounds moved ahead of Oxford Brookes' 1st XV and into an undisputed first place of the BUSA league with a 40-25 win over Warwick 1st XV last Wednesday. The blustery afternoon was punctuated by solid and exciting play from both sides. The score quickly shot up to 10-5 in favour of Warwick, early tries being scored by both sides, with Warwick also adding a penalty.
A breakaway down the left side resulted in a try for the Greyhounds, which restored parity at 10-10. Minutes later, Oxford took the lead after Warwick conceded a penalty in front of the posts. Despite various threats to this lead, the score remained unchanged until the end of the half.
Just moments into the second half, however, Oxford went up 20-10 after a try and a successful conversion. Warwick immediately responded with a fast break down the left side, but dropped a key pass deep in Oxford territory. The missed opportunity would cost the trailing side, as the Greyhounds were next to add to their points tally, going up 25-10 with their fourth try.
Warwick, not to be outdone, came back with an artfully executed try and successful conversion, narrowing Oxford's lead to 25-17. Indeed, Warwick seemed poised to make a comeback with over 20 minutes remaining in the match, but eight points proved to be the closest that they would get to the Greyhounds for the remainder of the game.
Oxford scored the next two tries, both of which saw failed conversions, and went up 35-17. Warwick, still pushing to save the game for itself, scored another try with 13 minutes to go, bringing the score to 35-22. The Greyhounds would have the last word, however, scoring a try late on and bumping their points total to 40.
Warwick proved themselves capable of remaining competitive through accomplished ball handling, artful passing, and disciplined play. Many of the Warwick drives stayed alive through a veritable ballet of passes, despite back after back being leveled, with the ball remaining in motion as a result of its near constant flight between Warwick hands. Encouragingly however, Oxford convincingly dominated Warwick in terms of size and strength. The Greyhounds were able to dominate the scrum with ease, and repeatedly laid massive tackles on the Warwick backs. This win thus confirmed Oxford's place at the top of the BUSA league, where they will stay.
19th Feb 2004