South Wales edged out Skolars with two quick tries early in the second half proving the difference between the two sides. Skolars had chances but spilled the ball too often.
Warren Turley’s late withdrawal through injury meant that Matthew Kidd refereed for all three of the encounters.
Scorpions’ Director of Rugby was upbeat after the issues in the principality over the last fortnight. “It’s proof that there is life after Crusaders. There were lots of youngsters out there and some excellent tries today. It’s been a mixed bag this season, but with wins in the last two games, we’ve proved we can play some good rugby league”.
The home side started the game strongly with only an excellent Austen Aggrey tackle stopping Jamie Murphy and after a Casey Bromilow break. With the defence not fully set, Andrew Gay raced over the line to open the scoring.
Dylan Skee then went close for Skolars, but at the other end, another Murphy break should have led to a try but with no support the move broke down.
Chris McNamara made a good run down the left flank on his debut for Skolars. McNamara played alongside John Paxton and Michael Sykes in the recent Great Britain squad that defeated Australia on the recent ashes tour down under. The game also saw the return of Michael Sykes to the side.
Saqib Murtza’s introduction to the game saw him make an immediate impact. First he broke through the defence on the half way line. Two tackes later he was well placed in support to force his way over the line.
Skolars had a good chance to take the lead just before half time when James Anthony forced an error from a Skee bomb. But Dave Williams lost the ball close to the line and the sides went in 6 apiece.
Scorpions went into the lead soon after half-time when a flat pass from Steve Parry to Chris Davies caught Skolars napping and he raced through the gap to score. Five minutes later Christiaan Roets broke the defensive line from half way and raced down the left flank to score. Lewis Reece’s conversion put the Welsh 12 points ahead
Scorpions knew Skolars would come back at them after the two close encounters earlier in the season and it was some over eager defence from Paul Raftery that gave the visitors good field position. They created a big overlap on the left and Smokie Junor seized the opportunity to score, with Skee’s conversion narrowing the gap to six points.
The Scorpions defence forced errors from Skolars throughout the game, but Danny Burke could do little than lose the ball as he went down in a heap from a Roets tackle. Thankfully, the medical staff were quickly onto the scene, Burke leaving the field dazed after a short hold-up in the game.
Andrew Gay scored his second try of the game, jinking through to the tryline after Chris Clough had proved difficult to stop.
Skolars weren’t prepared to concede, with Sam Gee stealing the ball from Curtis Cunningham. The hooker scored from dummy half later in the set, twisting to avoid the defence. Skee’s conversion hit the post, meaning that his side were still eight points behind.
Reece added a fifth goal of the day through a penalty to extend the lead and Scorpions were able to control the game in the last few minutes to enjoy the victory.
Skolars travel to Gateshead next weekend for their last away game of the season.
SCORPIONS
27 Jamie Murphy
5 Curtis Cunningham
22 Jack Pring
3 Christiaan Roets
2 Lewis Reece
1 Andrew Gay
7 Casey Bromilow
10 Paul Raftery
9 Steve Parry
15 Neil Dallimore
28 Chris Clough
21 Rhodri Lloyd
26 Lee Williams
Subs (all used)
17 Harri Greville
18 Chris Davies
13 Aled James
4 Ashley Bateman
Tries: Gay (9,65), Davies (45), Roets (50)
Goals: Reece 5/5
LONDON SKOLARS
3 James Anthony
18 Aaron Small
31 Chris McNamara
31 Will Colleran
2 Smokie Junor
30 Mourad Kriouache
7 Dylan Skee
25 Austen Aggrey
32 Sam Gee
34 David Williams
12 Oliver Bloom
37 Jaroslaw Obuchowski
15 Olly Purslow
Subs (all used)
29 Michael Sykes
21 Danny Burke
27 Cariern Clement-Pascall
22 Saqib Murtza
Tries: Murtza (24), Junor (58), Gee (68)
Goals: Skee 2/3
Penalty count: 8-10
Half-time: 6-6
Referee: Matthew Kidd
Attendance: 232
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 12-6, 18-6, 18-12, 24-12, 24-16, 26-16
