UOB Men’s 2nd team romped to victory against bottom of the table East Anglia in a game which saw Birmingham score 5 tries at Metchley pitches this Wednesday afternoon.
Birmingham started much the brighter of the two sides, scoring their first try just two minutes into the game after charging down the right hand flank and scoring under the posts. The try was followed up promptly by a superb kick between the posts to put Birmingham 7-0 up within moments of kick off.
The late arrival of East Anglia’s team significantly helped Birmingham in the opening stages of the game. The long journey time, compounded with the lack of warm-up meant UEA just did not wake up in the early stages of the game, allowing the lions to dominate the early proceedings.
The strength of Birmingham’s forward line continued to provide dividends, scoring their second try just a minute after their first. Some sloppy play by East Anglia allowed Birmingham’s flanker to charge through a gaping hole in their defence, before being tackled. Subsequently the ball was switched to the right hand side and was ran over the line coolly by Birmingham’s winger, making the score 12-0. Unfortunately poor weather conditions, especially heavy wind, prevented Birmingham from converting any of their other tries during the rest of the fixture.
Birmingham’s technical ability was too hot to handle in the first half, fantastic kicking and big tackles allowed the lions to constantly keep pressure on the UEA backline and were unfortunate to not score more tries in the first twenty minutes of the game. Birmingham’s pressure eventually counted, scoring their third try half an hour into the game, again unfortunately not converting – 17-0.
Just before half time Birmingham put themselves in an unassailable position, romping home another try in a dominant first half display, leaving them 22-0 up at half time. After the break, UEA got much more involved in the game, improving in their tackling ability and also fashioning a few opportunities for themselves. However, ten minutes into the second half, fantastic ingenuity and individual skill by Birmingham’s fly half helped UOB achieve their 5th try and therefore a bonus point – 27-0.
The second half was much sloppier than the first, loose passes, poor line-outs and constant penalties allowed East Anglia to get more involved in the fixture. Eventually with fifteen minutes left, UEA scored their only try of the game running through to make the score 27-5. They also added a conversion but it was far too late in the game to make any impact.
Decent game management and a solid performance from UOB ensured that the game finished 27-7, which pushes the side up to 2nd in the Midlands 2B League. Next fixture for the Lions is at home against 5th placed Northampton after the Christmas break, they will hope to continue their rich vein of form and potentially challenge Oxford Brookes for the title in the New Year.
