Lively Game Won By Albion

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30752, 17 May 1965, Page 16

Lively Game Won By Albion

ALBION 19: J. R. Adams, W. T. Flewellyn, R. J. Phelan tries: A. G. Harrison, two penalty goals and two conversions. SHIRLEY 8: B. Nunan a try; B. Richards, a penalty goal and a conversion.

Five minutes after half-time Shirley made four rucks in a row, failed to gain ground from any of them and eventually conceded 40 yards in a kick and scramble thrust by Albion which ended in a try by Flewellyn. This frittering away of one opportunity after another could have affected Shirley's morale. But, to its credit, the side returned to the fray full of drive and determination and enjoyed just as much success as its opponent in the cut and thrust that marked the rest of the game.

Albion won on its merits, but a runaway try in the last minute by Phelan gave the team a flattering winning margin of 11 points. The game was full of action, for the backs were lively and the forwards robust. Not all the vigour, however, was put to fair use and in the second half a forward from each side was warned in separate incidents and on another occasion the opposing captains were called together by the referee. The rucks and mauls were

often fiercely contested, but Shirley won the bail from the great majority of them. It had an edge, too, in scrummaging, and the hooker, R. Simpson, won three tight heads and conceded none. But Albion made up much of the leeway in possession by gaining the upper hand in the line-outs, with the 6ft 6in lock, R. Rowlatt, playing a leading role.

Albion was well served behind the scrum. Flewellyn was in a most energetic mood and Adams and R. Mains, the fiveeighths, found expression for their attacking abilities in' broken play and blind side thrusts. Main’s feints and Adams’s acceleration tested Shirley’s defence, and although most of the tackling was effective, D. Longley’s presence on the field for the whole game might have changed the course of one or two Albion movements. The strongly built Shirley centre, a fine tackler, broke through three times in the first 10 minutes but left the field with a badly gashed face midway through the first half. One of the least impressive aspects of the match was the goal-kicking. Richards and Harrison, normally competent kickers, were astray frequently, but as both full-hacks missed five times each, neither side could feel unhappy about the final scores. Referee: Mr D. M. Sampson.