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ST BENEDICTS 3 – ANSELMIANS 78
With not having played for 4 weeks Saints made the 31⁄2 hour journey to St Benedicts in Whitehaven, Cumbria.
They were met with bright but cold conditions and a decent pitch; a rarity this winter.
Saints came out firing and within three minutes Ewan Nolan, playing at number 8, swept in from the wing to score under the posts, with Morley adding the extras.
St Benedicts replied with a penalty two mins later; these turned out to be their only points of the game although they did miss two more penalties in the first half.
Saints now stepped up a gear with a dominant scrum and faultless line out. Both full-back Andy Cummins and James Whitehouse were making significant yardage towards the try line.
With Whitehouse and Nolan adding their second tries within the space of five minutes, it was going to be a tough afternoon for the Cumbrians.
It was one-way traffic. Not helping themselves, St Benedicts had two players yellow carded for foul play, leaving gaps in the backline for Tommy Banks and Grebe to score.
HT 3-35
The second half was more of the one-way traffic, with Nolan grabbing his third try Whitehouse his second, and also Banks with his second.
Morley bagged a try and a penalty to add to his 11 conversions. There was also a try from former under 9s winger, prop Brookes with a slick sidestep. Brian Atwine grabbed a try on his return to the side.
Final score 3-78.
St Benedicts15 Andrew Middleton14 Zac Ellison13 Damien Tinkler12 Reece Billington11 Alex Wilson10 Ryan Fisher 9 Aiden Pirie1 Joshua Jenkinson2 Jamie Jardine3 James Finnegan4 Liam Woodburn5 Glenn McKitten6 Russell Burns7 William Wilson8 Gary GibbonsSt Benedicts SubsS1 Kevin ChristianS2 Barry Boyd
Anselmians15 Andrew Cummings14 James Whitehouse13 Thomas Banks12 Ransford Otutaha11 Adam Bramhall10 David Morley9 Liam Sadler1 Stephen Brooks2 Daniel Salisbury3 Jonathan Bonner4 Niall Cavanagh5 Jack Richards6 Ewan Nolan7 Thomas Gilbert8 William GrabeAnselmians SubsS1 Derek SalisburyS2 David EdgeS3 Brian Atwine
Anselmians 1st XV’s next game is away to Macclesfield on Saturday 19 March for a 2.15pm kick-off in the Cheshire Cup.
Image credit: Derek Salisbury Snr
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