Hull Ionians 6 v 26 Old Elthamians

Hull Ionians 6 v 26 Old Elthamians

Old Elthamians claimed a bonus point victory at Brantingham Park by dint of a pack of forwards that outmuscled the hosts to provide the necessary four scores. The final try came with the closing play of the match, as once again Ionians ceded possession. OE’s capitalised, catching Ionians cold on the counter and Ed Brown was yellow carded for illegally intervening. From the resulting penalty the visitors pack rumbled over the line to score and herald jubilant celebrations.
It was typical of much of what was a forgettable afternoon. Ionians made a promising enough start but it wasn’t long before their profligate nature put OE’s in possession and gave the visitors a chance to display their set piece prowess, demolishing Ionians at the first scrum.
To Ionians’ credit they prevented such discomfiture occurring again and it was 25 minutes before the hosts succumbed to Elthamians physical presence; a line out being driven to the line before the ball was transferred to the midfield backs for Hamish Barton to dart over under the posts. Hilton Gibbons added the routine conversion and OEs led by 7 points.
Ionians pulled back three points just before the break, courtesy of a Max Titchener penalty, and went to oranges with all to play for in the second half.
Ionians opened with a second successful penalty to cut the deficit to a single point but it was as close as they came to registering anything from the match. Hard as they tried, and Minikin tried his damnedest, Ionians hadn’t the grunt or guile to seriously trouble a solid OE defence.
Elthamians extended their slender advantage when the forwards took control, following a successful line-out, and battered away through numerous phases, crabbing away from the touch-line until they were in front of the posts. With options available to both sides back-rower Ryan Munnelly eschewed the opportunities either way to burrow his way over under the posts. Hancock made no mistake from the tee to put the visitors 6 – 14 up.
Ionians were awarded two consecutive penalties to get to within 5m of the OE’s line but were unable to execute the plays to reap any rewards. Almost inevitably Ionians spilled the ball to allow Elthamians to clear their lines and turn defence into attack and Ionians were pressed back into their own 22 and had to rely on another penalty decision to allow them to escape from the cudgel.
As the game entered the final quarter, Ionians, still searching for their elusive first try, broke clear. To no-ones surprise they lost possession and Elthamians countered, putting the ball through several pairs of hands before winger Cameron Hancock darted under the sticks to score. Gibbons made it 3 from 3 and moved the score to 6 – 21.
The coup de grace was delivered fittingly at the death to give the visitors all the spoils and bring to an end an afternoon that won’t linger long in the memory.
Elthamians may have suffered from an exodus in recent weeks but still have a formidable front five to paper over obvious short-comings. Ionians were equally threadbare in vital areas; the line-out options were extremely limited, not helped by a strong cross wind, and they relied almost exclusively on Lewis Minikin for any credible attacking intent.
Either side could have taken the spoils, judging by the first half performance. Ionians got to within a point but they couldn’t hold onto possession for long enough to build any momentum. Elthamians could, and they stifled the life out of the home side to add three tries in the final quarter to run out worthy winners.Now where was I?