In the second quarter final, UWIC were made to work for their place in the semi final by a determined Liverpool John Moores who battled until the end. Indeed the outstanding feature of the game was the resilient UWIC defence that brought back memories of long ago as they constantly repelled the English invaders, in this case regularly preventing John Moores from crossing into the UWIC half of the field

The opening try for UWIC came on 10 minutes to hooker and Welsh student international Lee Drabble. After completing their first five tackles the UWIC downfield kick was supported by an excellent chase. As the big Welsh forwards smashed into the John Moores kick returner, the ball was spilled for Drabble to pick up and score in the corner.

Despite this effort, UWIC were frequently guilty of poor handling, which meant large stints of defensive work. On the half hour however, the kicking strategy was again successful as a high kick was palmed back for full back James Thatcher to collect and dive over in the corner. At half time the score was 10-0.

In the second half, experienced captain Barry Hutchinson cleverly guided his John Moores side around the pitch and deservedly worked a smart try which he converted himself. Then on the hour two scores in rapid time took UWIC clear, the first to loose forward Wayne Broomfield followed by centre Aiden Button scoring to the left of the posts.

With the score standing at 20-6, UWIC seemed to be in the driving seat. Again however in an apparent one-man campaign, Hutchinson worked an opening for a second John Moores’ try to reduce the difference to ten points. Any thoughts of a come back were dashed when a well-worked move saw Broomfield score the final UWIC try and goal in the dying moments to seal victory.

The old saying reminds us that defence wins matches but UWIC must reflect that they will need to lift their attack to the level of their defence if they hope to overcome Loughborough University in next week’s crunch semi-final.

Article by Gerard Keenan
15 Mar 2006