Greene King IPA Championship Round 8 Review

This weekends Round 12 of the Greene King IPA Championship had some outstanding rugby action on show with last minute scores, hat-tricks and a lot more as the battle for the Play-Offs intensifies

Friday 16th January
London Scottish 27-15 Cornish Pirates
London Scottish made it consecutive bonus point victories as they overcame Cornish Pirates at the Athletic Ground. The performance was very pleasing as Winger Matt Williams touched down a brace while his wing partner also crossed the whitewash. Captain Mark Bright then sealed the bonus point with his 14th try of the season from the tail of the maul in the closing stages. Scottish remain well positioned in third while Cornish Pirates remain in seventh, 15 points of the Play-offs and 15 points off relegation.
Man of the match: Matt Williams (London Scottish)
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    •    London Scottish Winger Matt Williams
“To come away from that game with five points is a great win for us.
"They pushed us right to the end and are a very good team so it was massively important.
"At half-time we were ahead but weren't quite hitting our performance levels but in the second half we pushed on and played some good running rugby."
 

Saturday 17th January
Doncaster 19-26 Jersey
The Knights fell to an eighth consecutive defeat as they were overcame by Jersey at Castle Park on Saturday. The win eased the Islanders relegation worries and was their first win since early November. Doncaster, despite showing real character to fight back from a 23-9 half-time deficit have now not won in the league for four months and will be nervously looking over their shoulder incase cash-strapped Plymouth find some form. Knights remain second bottom while Jersey move up to eighth, 13 points clear of the drop zone.
Man of the Match: Samisoni Fisilau (Jersey)
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    •    Nick Campbell, Jersey Second Row
“It was a massive result for us and it was good to back up the performance against Bristol.
“We knew they were going to come back in the second half and fair play to Donny they got it back to seven points, but we tackled well and we always felt in control

Moseley 10-50 Worcester
Warriors strolled to a 17th consecutive victory after racking-up eight tries at Billesley Common against Moseley. Dean Ryan’s men stormed into a 40-5 half-time lead courtesy of a Sam Betty hat-trick and tries for Chris Pennell, Andy Symons and Max Stelling. Centre Stelling grabbed himself a second score after the break and although Jack Lea added to Sam Brown's early try, Richard de Carpentier touched down late on to complete a comprehensive win for Warriors. Worcester remain poised in second, just two points behind league leaders Bristol while Moseley remain tenth, 9 points above that dreaded relegation place.
Man of the Match: Sam Betty (Worcester)
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    •    @Chris_Pennell Jan 18th
Great support as always from @WorcWarriors travelling fans! Another good W for the boys. Lazy Sunday on the cards me thinks #familytime
 
 Rotherham Titans 34-19 Bedford
Bedford Blues suffered their first defeat of 2015 and moved further adrift of the all important play-off places as they succumbed to only their second loss in six matches in all competitions away at Rotherham. The win ended a run of three consecutive defeats at Clifton Lane for the titans and keeps their hope of a top four finish alive while Bedford are now 13 points off the top four.
Man of the match: Max Argyle (Rotherham)
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Rotherham Titans Coach Lee Blackett
“After recent results we wanted a reaction and we got one> we still conceded a yellow card, but I’m really pleased because our attacking mentality was outstanding”
 

Sunday 18th January
Bristol 29-28 Yorkshire Carnegie
The league leaders trailed 28-10 with seven minutes remaining but tries from Marco Mama and David Lemi, before Mitch Eadie’s converted try deep into stoppage time was enough to seal the win and move the hosts back to the top of the Greene King IPA Championship.
Man of the match: Mitch Eadie (Bristol)
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    •    Danny Wilson, Bristol Rugby forwards coach, @dannywilson76 Jan 18th
Not our best performance but good character to score two late tries and a huge kick from @matthewmorgan23 Great @Bristol_RFC support again
    •    Mitch Eadie, Bristol Fly-Half, @mitcheadie6 Jan 18th
Great support again tonight for @Bristol_RFC win  #thankseveryone
    •    Tommy McGee, Yorkshire Carnegie coach
    •    "I really feel for our blokes. They have given that game their all and we have come down here and given Bristol a really tough test. It was heartening to hear from their coaching team today when they said they thought the better team lost. Bristol are a quality outfit who are able to call upon internationals off their bench when the going gets tough, clearly in terms of depth of quality they are above nearly all the teams in our division.

Nottingham 22-19 Plymouth Albion
In crisis Plymouth Albion were cruelly denied a draw with the last kick of the game against fourth-placed Nottingham at Lady Bay. The Championship match was tied at 19-19 with time up on the clock, but Albion gave away a penalty and replacement fly-half Rory Lynn kicked it to make sure Nottingham triumphed. The result means Notts have consolidated their place in the top four while Plymouth continue to prop up the division, eight points from safety.
Man of the match:
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    •    Plymouth Head coach, James Shanahan
“We deserved a minimum of a draw, although I think we deserved the win.
“But as I have said to the players, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
 “It is a game we have lost more than Nottingham have won.