3rd XV
Matches
Sat 12 Feb 2022
Veseyans
17
22
Tamworth RUFC
3rd XV
3rds stage one of the great comebacks

3rds stage one of the great comebacks

Tom Dyer14 Feb 2022 - 12:11
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Happiness is a player called Hamlett

Tamworth 3rds travelled away to Veseyans, looking for their first double of the season. Earlier in the season, Tamworth hosted Veyseans and came away with a dominant win of 47-0 and the Wigginton park men were looking for a repeat performance.

Tamworth 3rd team Captain Olly Tomson was carrying a thigh injury and put himself on the bench meaning the front row had a new look for the first time this season. The usually solid and dependable front row of Tomson, Clive and Stevenson was shuffled to Lewis Clive and Phil Stevenson as props, and John Aylett coming in as hooker. Back row, Scott Pearce celebrated becoming a father by taking over captain duties in Tomson's absence. There was also debuts for Darren Cotterill and Kai Evans at second row and centre.
Veseyans started the sharper and brighter of the two teams, and got out of the traps early, forcing a fast pace and dictating the tempo. Waves of early attacks and making good territory, Veyseans soon crossed the line to open the scoring where a brave Tamworth defense was breached. Veyseans converted the try to make the score 7-0.
Veyseans then changed and switched the tempo up and down with purpose and control and found gaining territory with ease. Tamworth ruck defense was yet again found wanting and being slow to react, gave away one penalty too many in a dangerous position and veyseans took an easy 3 points to extend their lead to 10-0. For 30 minutes Tamworth were slow, lethargic and nearly every attack was littered with handling errors, giving possession back to Veyseans with ease. Veyseans, whilst dangerous, direct and in control of the game. It was Tamworth who were the architects of the state of the game they found themselves in.
The beginning of the comeback can be traced back to to 30 minute mark where Veyseans launched yet another attack down their right wing. Tamworth left wing Charlie Hinds lined up his man with the perfection of a sniper lining up his target, and put in a thunderous hit to stop the attack dead in its tracks. This seemed to galvanize Tamworth and slowly began to get a foothold back in the game. Star player and man of the match, Jack Hamlett started to get hands on the ball and made some fantastic probing runs and gaining good ground for Tamworth. Eventually Tamworth got on the score sheet through scrum half Dylan Whittington to end the half 10-5 to Veyseans.
During the break captain Scott Pearce called for calmer heads and more patient play, however it was a similar start to the second half which saw Veyseans score another converted try to make it 17-5. It was time for Olly Tomson to empty the bench and send in the bomb squad to change the game. Impact players, Aaron Andrews, Jason Pearce, Kyle Snowden and Olly Tomson came on to role the dice.
It didn't take long for the unleashing of the bomb squad payed off where Jason Pearce stopped a try scoring opportunity with an earth shattering, text book 1 on 1 tackle, driving his counterpart back at a rate of knots. Apparently the tremor could be felt all the way back at Wigginton park. Yet again this gave Tamworth confidence and held up some strong Veyseans attacks on the try line, with Martin Page getting in on the tough tackling action.
Tamworth now were forcing their own pace and tempo with Jack Hamlett and Ethan Fields gaining solid territory, fly half Chris Seabright now with the luxury of sending in forward runners around the corner, moving the point of attack superbly, creating space out wide before Aaron Andrews called for the trigger to be pulled and spin the ball out wide to put Kai Evans in for a try on his debut to make it 17-10.
It wasn't long before Tamworth were over the line yet again, through another well worked try for outside centre, Ash Boon to crash over the line. This time Seabright hit the conversion to level the scores 17-17 with 10 minutes left on the clock. From here the game could of gone ether way with both teams trading attacking blows. Each attack countered with a repost, but it was Tamworth getting stronger with some great runs and line breaks by Scott Pearce, Jack Hamlett, Ethan Fields, Olly Tomson, and Kyle Snowden. It was Kyle Snowden who crashed over the line after yet another well worked team try. Again using forward runs from Tomson, Page, Pearce, Hamlett, Cotterill and Tim Whittington, softly cradling the ball in the tackle and presenting a clean ball back every time to give scrum half Dylan Whittington protection and Chris Seabright options. Yet again the hole in defense was created and Kyle Snowden spotted and exploited the gap beautifully to crash over the line. Tamworth were in the lead for the first time in the match at 22-17 and four minutes to defend a five point lead.
The final four minutes, Tamworth were not going to sit back and try and soak up more Veyseans attacks, instead opting to go on the attack in search of more points. Veyseans kept Tamworth at bay and even managed a turnover in the final minute to launch one last attack at Tamworth. The town defense held out one last time closing out a well fought win 22-17. A truly remarkable comeback.

Match details

Match date

Sat 12 Feb 2022

Kickoff

14:15
Team overview
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