Skolars enjoyed long periods of possession and territorial advantage in the second half of their first game at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, but although they edged ahead with 12 minutes remaining, the All-Golds scored twice to record their first win against Skolars.
The visitors had taken an early lead after a Dennis Tuffour handing error allowed Daniel Spencer-Tonks to score. However, Tuffour soon made amends crashing through the defence after Skolars had pushed upfield with the help of some mishandling and a penalty.
Skolars’ defensive line was jagged as Aiden Jenkins breezed past it to score on the right to put the visitors in the lead again. Both sides then traded errors close to their opponents try line before Martyn Smith slipped over from dummy half, Sam Druce adding his second conversion.
The All-Golds again bounced back quickly through hard-working Jason Muranka, with Aiden Jenkins kicking their first conversion of the day. An error from the kick-off saw them have to defend again and although Lamont Bryan was held-up and Sam Druce went inches short of the line, they held out. Their next attack saw Casey Canterbury’s kick bobble out of Skolars’s grasp and back into his hands, going over in the right corner to give them a six point lead at half-time.
Muranka added his second try soon after the restart with Skolars’ defence failing to get near him, but the AllGolds were disrupted by injuries to Danny Fallon and Sam Te’o.
It was Skolars first game at the home of Enfield Town FC, where they will play until the start of August whilst an artificial pitch is installed at New River and they started to look at home as they took the game into Gloucestershire’s half for a large period of the second half. They narrowed the deficit through Mike Worrincy, whose diagonal run to the line for a try was converted by former All-Gold Matt Bradley, who had come on as a substitute and taken over kicking duties.
After forcing a goal line drop-out, Skolars went ahead after good work by James Woodburn-Hall, who created problems for the opposition throughout the game. However, the next time the All-Golds had possession, Skolars conceded a penalty and after Jarrad Ward had gone close, a large gap opened in the defence for Izaak Duffy to score, Jenkins conversion extending the lead to four points.
Skolars had an excellent chance to regain the lead when Dennis Tuffour made a break down the middle from his own half, but hadn’t got the legs to go the whole distance on a stiflingly hot afternoon. Even so, Skolars will be rueing one of many mistakes close to the tryline as they lost the ball on the left hand side, Canterbury being the grateful recipient as he raced 70 metres to put the All-golds out of reach.
Skolar’s coach Joe Mbu was succinct in his criticism of his side’s performance. “We had good territorial advantage, but didn’t convert that into tries. We lost the ball in their half numerous times and no side can make those sort of mistakes and expect to win”.
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Dennis Tuffour
20 Judd Greenhalgh
3 John Paxton
31 Lamont Bryan
5 Jamie O’Callaghan
6 James Woodburn-Hall
4 Sam Druce
10 David Williams
9 Martyn Smith
20 Patelisio Pelo
11 Mike Worrincy
12 Will Lovell
13 Olly Purslow
Subs (all used)
8 Ryan McDonald
34 Erjon Dollapi
13 Louis Robinson
7 Matt Bradley
Tries: Tuffour (4), Smith (24), Worrincy (58), Woodburn-Hall (68)
Goals: Druce 2/2, Bradley 2/2
ALL-GOLDS
1 Phil Cowburn
4 Aiden Jenkins
2 Jarrad Ward
11 Sam Te’o
8 Daniel Spencer-Tonks
6 Danny Fallon
7 Danny Thomas
18 James Walters
19 Craig Cook
10 Izaak Duffy
16 Jason Muranka
12 Miles Fairbank
13 Brendan Smith
Subs (all used)
14 Joe McClean
15 Harry Chapman-Walker
17 Jack Francis
5 Casey Canterbury
Tries: Spencer-Tonks (3), Jenkins (9), Muranka (27,46), Canterbury (35,78), Duffy (74)
Goals: Fallon 0/1, Jenkins 3/6
Penalty count: 10-7
Half-time: 12-18
Referee: Jamie Bloem
Attendance: 398
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 6-4, 6-8, 12-8, 12-14, 12-18.,12-22, 18-22, 24-22, 24-28, 24-34
