A solid team performance paves the way

Wet ground underfoot as Cats kicked off with Crawley spilling the ball under Cats pressure. The Crawley pack was big but Old Cats were undaunted and fronted up to the physical challenge. It was evident that to win the game Cats needed to get the ball along the line and attack the outside channels. It was all Cats for the first ten minutes and following good work by the forwards the ball came out to Trent who accelerated through the gap and scored close to the posts. Tom converted for Cats 7 – 0 Crawley. Crawley kicked deep but the ball was run back into their half by Conor and again Cats started to apply the pressure. Conor and Dan D were winning the battle for the loose ball at the breakdown and Cats were launching good attacks. At last Crawley got their hands on the ball but it was kicked away to be picked up fortuitously by Trent who again spotted the gap and ghosted through for a well taken try. Unconverted to leave the score Cats 12 – 0 Crawley. Another long kick-off and strong defensive work from Cats saw another attack launched with Will Mac running strongly before being tackled close to the line. Crawley managed to work their way downfield but again strong defence saw Cats reclaim the ball which was passed along the line and this time Will was not to be denied, running in the try from the half way. Unconverted. Cats 17 – 0 Crawley. From another attack Aaron ran strongly from the half but was tackled inside the Crawley 22 and from the ensuing ruck Crawley cleared their lines. At the end of the half it was Cats 17 – 0 Crawley.

Both teams used the interchange to bring on fresh players and Crawley started strongly putting pressure on Cats especially at scrum time where their larger pack were looking to dominate the lighter Cats scrum. However Cats were holding firm and putting their tackles in to ensure that Crawley could not benefit from the possession. Rory was having an epic battle with his opposite number who was virtually living in his pocket but Rory was having the better of it. The next try was scored by Rory who looked up and saw space on the blind side. Attacking from just inside the Crawley half Rory evaded a number of tacklers to score a good try in the corner. Cats 22 – 0 Crawley. From the kick-off Cats attacked out wide and Jack made a great run from inside the half to touch down for a further Cats score. Cats 27 – 0 Crawley. After a number of attacks from Crawley, Conor came away with the ball and ran strongly into the Crawley half before being stopped on the 22. From the ensuing ruck Cats attacked again but lost the ball in a turnover however sustained pressure on the Crawley defence saw a miss kick dropping over the try line. Jack was the first one to react but an unlucky bounce saw the ball evade his grasp. Crawley cleared their lines and strong running from their full back saw him score under the posts, converted. Cats 27 – 7 Crawley. The game was starting to loosen up as players tired and from a strong Crawley scrum in midfield the ball broke left and even though the Crawley runner was tackled short of the line his impetus took him over and a try was awarded, converted. Final score Cats 27 – 14 Crawley.

This was an excellent team performance from Cats where every player from 1 to 18 contributed. The result was even more pleasing as it came against a very large and physical Crawley side but there was no back-up in the Cats players. The tight five of Dan O, Oskar, Toby, Jamie and George were up against it but performed manfully and ensured that Crawley did not have the dominance they expected. It was in the loose however that a large part of the battle was won with Ieuan, Dan D and Conor in great form, winning the ball on the ground, pressuring the opposition and especially in Conor’s case, running the ball back strongly and linking with the backs. Rory and Trent were incisive, with excellent ball distribution allied with good decision making resulting in 3 of the 5 tries being scored by them. Tom’s running and ball distribution was excellent and Will was his usual rampaging self with strong running and tackling. Gordon also ran strongly and distributed well when he came on and there was no lack in the backline cohesiveness with the change. Both Aaron and Jack ran and tackled strongly while Scott ran the ball back superbly and linked with the forwards well when necessary. Both Kieran and Rhys slotted in at the interchange and carried on the good work. A special mention must go to all the defensive work done by the team, strong tackling and good returning of the ball ensured that Crawley did not have a platform to work on.