BROOKES BROKEN
The Oxford Greyhounds took a notable step closer to the BUSA league title by beating fierce rivals Oxford Brookes 36-17. In what was a thrilling game played out before a crowd of over 1000 exuberant spectators, the Greyhounds survived a late revival from Brookes to avenge their defeat from earlier on in the season and now need solely a victory against Warwick to clinch the title.
The Greyhounds set out their intentions immediately, with the impressive forward pack almost forcing a try through a driving maul. From the resultant play, the ball came out to the back line, and with the Brookes defence understaffed on the right wing, left-winger John Bradshaw was afforded a relatively simple run-in. Yet this seemed to spark Brookes into action and they began to play positive, expansive rugby. On 11 minutes, it was the Brookes forwards who forced a penalty from the Oxford defence, allowing fly-half O'Flanagan reduce the deficit to two points. This pressure continued, with the Greyhounds simply unable to escape their own 22. However, following an apparently harmless kick from Oxford's Barr, the Greyhounds eventually succeeded in breaking the shackles. Barr's kick was collected expertly by the influential Hadfield, who then off-loaded to Bradshaw. The winger consequently beat three players with remarkable ease, before passing on to flanker Doug Abbott, whose excellent support play enabled him to score under the posts.
After this try, both sides desperately fought to gain any rhythm, but again it was the Greyhounds who gained the ascendancy. They pinned Brookes within their five-metre line in the final ten minutes of the half and, as so often happened, the Greyhounds forwards out muscled their opposite numbers to enable Ben Durham to flop over from the back of the scrum, stretching the difference at the interval to fourteen points.
Perhaps mindful of their recent inability to maintain a consistent level of performance in recent matches, the Greyhounds quickly sought to reassert their dominance. A smart series of quick penalties seemed to catch the Brookes midfield by surprise, and the Greyhounds forwards were clinical in punishing this defensive lapse to record Oxford's fourth try of an increasingly open game. Cracks were beginning to appear in the Brookes defence, with outside centre Lavery in particular causing problems to the tiring midfield, despite having a thigh strain. The strain on the defence eventually told, with Doug Abbott providing the telling breach that allowed for another try in the forwards, making the score 29-3. At this stage in the game, the distraction provided by a defiant streaker was more than welcomed by the strong Brookes contingent in the West Stand, yet even this was all too ephemeral as the Greyhounds duly rounded off another well-worked move with a try, scored by winger O'Mahoney coming in off the right wing.
The game ended in a rousing manner, with Brookes refusing to give in despite the gargantuan task of overturning the Oxford lead. Two tries in quick succession briefly brought to mind the earlier missed conversions, but the lead proved too great. The Greyhounds will look to replicate this fine attacking display in their next crucial game.
19th Feb 2004