Shottery 22 Old Laurentians 3rds 43
SHOTTERY threw away an early lead to succumb to defeat to their visitors from Rugby following a late flurry of tries.
A catch and drive at the front of the line saw Richie Evans plough over the line to put Shottery in front and the lead was extended ten minutes later as quick recycled ball was shipped out to Andy Greenday, who came inside his opposite number to score near the posts.
The simple conversion was missed as a gust of wind deviated the ball at the last minute, but Shottery were 10-0 up and looking good.
The lead did not last for long though as OLs hit back with two tries, one of which was converted, to give them a 12-10 advantage at half time.
Shottery needed a good start to the second half to regain the early momentum, but a string of penalties conceded pushed them back towards their own line, where eventually the pressure told and OLs drove over from close.
Matters got worse for Shottery as George Fisher had to leave the pitch with a nasty gash and, without his wise head and pace, OLs winger Rob Sole sped down the wing to extend the lead to 14 points.
Shottery finally managed to put some possession together, resulting in a try for local thespian Matt Aston, his first for the club.
Kev Costa slotted the extra points from a tricky angle to bring the deficit back to a converted try. All the good work was soon undone though, as some weak tackling allowed the OL backs to penetrate and restore their advantage.
Shottery hit back again as a half break from scrum half Don Skinner looked as though it was going to peter out, but the ball was recycled for Evans to crash over for his second try.
With Shottery camped on OLs’ line and looking for the equalising score from another lineout catch and drive, the ball was overthrown and OLs moved the ball wide for Sole to run the length of the pitch and score.
Sole’s hat-trick was completed minutes later as he again exploited his pace to put the game beyond Shottery.
After the game Shottery skipper Eugene Hissey said: “This is a game we should have won, but on the day we were not good enough and made too many errors at critical times.
“Once again the pack was outstanding, with John Gabair making a particular nuisance of himself at the breakdown.”
Shottery are scheduled to entertain Manor Park this weekend in what should be another tight encounter.
