Match Report

W London II 40-34 Ipswich II

16/07/05 (Courtesy of W London Sharks)

On a hot, sunny day in Isleworth, West London II hosted Ipswich II in what looked to be an exciting encounter.

 

Ipswich kick the game off and within the first ten minutes of the game looked to be on their way to a commanding victory when they were leading 0-12.  Some inspirational play by captain Mick Whitehead soon had the Londoners regaining their composure and with some quick hands in the backs saw Stu Daniels cross under the posts for the first of the day, which he then converted.  Within ten minutes Sharks were clawing their way back with centre Jules and then substitute Joe both crossing the line.  Full Back Alex only converting once to levels the scores at 16-16.  Ipswich regained their composure to find the Sharks defence full of holes, which led to a breakaway try and an easy run in for the Ipswich backs to take their lead back to 6. However, on the stroke of half-time the forwards, who were now starting to hit the ball with pace set up Stu Daniels for his second try of the afternoon.  Sharks went into half-time with a 20-18 lead.

 

With a lot of new players over the last few games, it was understandable that Sharks were going to be a bit unsettled, but they came out in the second half more switched on and within seven minutes they had extended their lead to 24-18, only for Ipswich to hit back straight away with good forward momentum to cross the whitewash and equal the scores with the conversion.  Sharks figurehead, Matt Clark made his debut of the season, coming on for the last 20 minutes to show that after a seven-month layoff he could still compete with the younger members of the squad.  Whether it was Clark’s presence on the pitch or just that the backs were starting to gel, a good break from centre Ian Macey and some good support play led to Stu Daniels scoring his ha-trick.  This time Alex didn’t miss and retook the lead at 30-24.  Ipswich never seemed phased by Sharks scoring and for the second time in the day, scored in the next phase of play to equalise once more. 

 

This was turning out to be a thrilling match, with Sharks eager to keep their noses in front but Ipswich always coming back before Sharks could make any real ground on the scoreboard.  Debutant Adrian scored the second of the half after the forwards ran some bruising lines to eventually open up the Ipswich defence, followed two minutes later by Stu Daniels racing through three defenders unopposed to score his fourth try of the day to extend the lead to 40-30.  Ipswich were not finished and were not going to concede victory. Some great individualism by the Ipswich half-back saw a kick and chase on the third tackle, which left the Sharks backs looking on in wonderment, as he chased and scored in the last minute of the game.