Taunton RFC VS Luctonians RFC
Match Report – Alex Smith
Photo – James Wheeler (Luctonains Man of the Match) (Photo from previous game)
Luctonians were condemned to their third loss on the spin, as they went down on the road in Somerset 36-25, in an entertaining fixture at 3rd placed Taunton Titans.
On a dry afternoon, following a deluge of rain in the build up to the game, the match was played under clear skies but on a very heavy pitch which made handling conditions tricky, but that did not stop both sides playing some excellent attacking rugby.
Lucs got the scoreboard turning first, after nine minutes, as following a missed Owen Randell penalty, the visitors came with wave after wave of creative attack, until eventually space was created on the right flank for centre Bryn Goodall to go over unopposed for an unconverted score and a 0-5 lead.
Taunton took just seven minutes to hit back, and after Lucs withstood a barrage of phases, a stray clearing kick invited more waves of host pressure and eventually it was second row Sam Leworthy who barged his way over under the posts, to setup an easy conversion for the excellent Reece Malone, who made no mistake.
The home outfit repeated the trick on 26 minutes, after gaining entry into the Lucs’ 22, they brought heavy carry after heavy carry and eventually the US pressure told, with fly half Daniel Martin forcing his way over for another score converted by Malone and a 14-5 lead.
The visitors were up for this though and were staying well in the game, as flanker James Mear charged down and regained a clearing kick to score after 31 minutes and bring the contest back to within a score at 14-10. And Lucs looked to have repelled more Taunton pressure to take that close deficit to the break, only for another stray touch finder to stay on the park and Taunton took advantage, with eventually hooker Vaea Taione going over and Malone adding an excellent wide conversion for a 21-10 lead at the half.
Both teams exchanged penalties and yellow cards at the beginning of the second period as the game ebbed and flowed, but it was the hosts who then struck a killer blow, whilst down to 14 men on 56 minutes, as a line break in the midfield was finished off by replacement back Ben Heath to stretch the score out to 29-13.
The black and whites hit back on 68 minutes, with arguably the try of the match, as numerous phases of attack, combined with a Tom Jones cross-field kick, and an offload from Charlie Grimes put number 8 Jack Goodwin in under the sticks for a converted score an 29-20. But any life in the fixture was soon extinguished as centre Andrew Humberstone went over three minutes later for the hosts after they created an extra man on the left to seal what would be a deserved win for the Somerset men.
Joel Middleton’s try with the final play of the game from a driving maul ensured Lucs went home with a deserved four-try bonus point and a final score of 35-26.
Taunton were good value for the victory, showing why they are unbeaten at home this season. They were hugely clinical when they got into attacking areas, with Malone’s accuracy from the tee proving a major difference between the sides. Lucs competed really well and scored some good tries but in the end just made a few too many errors at key times to live with a quality opponent.
The Kingsland men are in action again after a break week this Saturday, when they host Loughborough Students at Mortimer Park on March 1st.
