Sat 7 Sep 2024
The new League season kicked off over the weekend in unseasonably grey and overcast conditions at Tile Hill Lane. OC’s – led by new Captain Sam Miles and Vice-Captain James Callaway - welcomed visitors Droitwich to the Club, with both sides fielding young teams.
The first quarter saw early errors creep into the game from both sides and it was very much dominated by the referee’s whistle. As OC’s increased the pressure on the Droitwich line, Jake Elvidge drove over from a couple of metres out to score the first try of the game – which was converted by debutant, Chatty Senavirathne. The game ebbed and flowed between the two 10 metre lines, before fly-half Mason McMurray put in a lovely 50/22 kick to put Droitwich back deep in to their 22. OC’s couldn’t convert that good territory – knocking the ball on over the line to miss out on extending their lead. However, from the subsequent drop out, Ollie Cunningham picked up a loose ball from 30 metres out and strode through a number of defenders to score OC’s second try of the game. Chatty Senavirathne stepping up to convert the try and give OC’s a 14-0 lead.
Droitwich responded well to going behind and after some neat play in midfield, their number 9 skipped through a couple of attempted tackles to give the away side their first score of the match, which their fly half duly converted. After a very stop / start first half, the referee blew his whistle for half-time with OC’s leading 14-7.
Half-time score: Old Coventrians 14 v 7 Droitwich
With OC’s playing down the slope, the second half started spectacularly with a fine display of “handbags” between OC’s winger Josh James and the Droitwich No 6 which led to the Droitwich player throwing a slap/punch which the referee deemed to be a red card offense – and duly sent the offending player for an early bath! Ten minutes into the second half and both sides were down to 14 men as try scorer Jake Elvidge was given a yellow card for an illegal crocodile roll – more over-exuberance from Jake than ill-intent. Soon after, from a scrum in the middle of the park, a lovely move off the back saw some excellent interplay between the backs which gave Josh James just enough space to power over the line for OC’s third try of the game. Freshly on to the field substitute, Jack Butler, slotted over an excellent conversion from the right touchline to extend OC’s lead to 21-7. Another period of scrappy play followed, with both sides still looking a little rusty. No sooner were OC’s back up to 15 men when centre George Curtis was pulled up for a high tackle and OC’s were back down to 14 men. With 10 minutes left in the game, OC’s scored the best try of the match, to earn themselves a 4 try bonus point. From a scrum just inside the OC’s 22, Mason McMurray – reminiscent of his Dad in his heyday many years ago - made a lovely break bamboozling two Droitwich defenders to lay the ball off to Sam Miles in support, who then popped the ball to full back Chatty Senavirathne who outpaced the final two defenders to score with an elegant dive in to the corner.
Despite a fairly error-strewn game, top marks go to the OC’s defence which was impeccable throughout – led by young second rower Dan Anderson and Vice-Captain James Callaway who were involved in so much of the good stuff from the OC’s. The game saw excellent debuts from both Chatty Senavirathne and hooker Jack Stokes – and it was great to see George Curtis back in an OC’s shirt after a period of injury. Still plenty of ‘stuff’ for new Head Coach Dom Owen to work on with the Team but great to get off to a winning start and hopefully set the tone for the season.
Full-time score: Old Coventrians 26 v 7 Droitwich
