Actonians 1st XV weathered a second-half fightback from league leaders Royston to secure a
remarkable victory at home and ended an unbeaten start to the season for the visitors.
Expectations were muted after a disappointing loss to Chess Valley in the previous home outing,
however, a bright start from the Actonians pack immediately put Royston under pressure in
their own half. After 10 minutes of fast-place play a dominant defensive scrum on Royston’s
22 put the visitors on the back foot, and their attempt to go wide early with a looping pass
was punished with captain Tom Knight (dreamy) intercepting and dotting down under the posts; fly-half
Zak Taylor opened his account with a conversion. Royston showed why they were league
leaders with a quick try in response, dotting down in the corner after some sustained phase
play, but the conversion drifted wide. Actonian’s barrelled straight back into action with more
powerful phase play, led by an energised pack hungry to convert weight advantage into
yards on the field, with OJ, Dan and Luke smashing forward from clean lineout ball.
Damaging first phase carries by Ben Beckman, making his first start at 12, then caused both
Royston centres to double up on his hard-line from a midfield scrum. The resulting pass
behind him into space was moved swiftly to fullback Matt Wilson, who accelerated through a
gap and delivered a perfect inside pass to Tom Knight, who dived over for his 2nd try in front of
the clubhouse. Zak’s unblemished kicking record was spoiled by a rare charge own, (which earned him Dotd) however
with the score now at 12-5 Actonians found another gear and purposefully moved back down the
field. Clinical kicking from Ollie and Zak established a solid field position, and soon Royston
was under siege on their try line. Under a near-persistent penalty advantage, the dam
soon broke, with Ben steamrolling several defenders on a short-range charge under the
posts. Zak added the extras to take A’s 14 points in front. Defence has been an issue for
Actonians this season, but the effort on the training paddock paid off with stifling line speed and
scything tackles limiting a team that had been scoring tries at will. With the clock ticking
towards halftime Actonians made another march down to the Royston line. Repeated carries
could not breach the stout defence from the visitors, and the A’s were forced to settle for another
Zak penalty to take a 22-5 lead at the break.
Actonians resumed the second half with the same gusto and energy, putting Royston under
pressure and forcing an early penalty in front of the posts. Zak stepped up and slotted the
kick to further extend the lead. Over the subsequent minutes, Royston began to find the
rhythm that had delivered 6 wins on the bounce, and their organised and skilful phase play
started to open up gaps in the Actonians' defence. Penalties began to mount as a youthful
Royston team sensed tired legs, and after some strong carries up the middle identified an
overlap on the right wing. They say lightning never strikes twice, but unfortunately for
Royston, an even faster natural phenomenon lurked unseen. Ted Kenny, showing no fatigue
from 50 minutes of flawless defence on the wing, plucked the ball out of the air and raced 70
metres to dot down to jubilant scenes, with Zak eventually catching up to add the extras and
make it 32-5. To Royston’s credit, they treated this setback as a momentary interruption, and
the barrage resumed as the visitors went for broke. Momentum swung decisively back in
their favour, with substitute Josh Glover receiving a tough yellow card for a high tackle and
the Royston 9 landing a perfect 50:22. Offside penalties again began to stack up, leaving the
visitors free to march down to the Actonians line. Despite spirited defence, Royston found a
way over, and a breathless 20 minutes ensued as the A’s manned the barricades against an
increasingly confident Royston. A further yellow card for Sam O’Conner due to repeated
infringements set the stage for another two Royston scores against 13 men, taking them
back within 8 points. Desperate for respite, A’s dug deep and were rewarded with a scrum
back in the Royston half. Despite a strong shove, Royston’s 9 was penalised for diving on a
loose ball at the base. After driving down the shot clock ice-man Zak stepped up and
delivered an invaluable 3 points from some distance out to nudge A’s back to a 2-try margin.
With a famous win now within grasp, a rare aura of game management descended amongst
the A’s, in a closing 10-minute period one spectator described as ‘nauseating’. Despite
Royston relentlessly pushing on for a further score, a near-constant rotation of A’s substitutions
bolstered the line as DJ, Tim and Chris took forward the attitude set by Max, Tim, Charlie
and Scottie in putting their bodies on the line for the badge. A couple of opportunistic
turnover penalties allowed precious seconds to tick away and provided temporary alleviation
of the pressure. However, as Royston bared down with a typically slick attack, a third
lightning strike backfired as Ted was shown a yellow for a deliberate knock-on attempting
another miracle interception. A subsequent Royston try and conversion brought them back
within 4 points, and with 1 minute left to play the A's readied for one last push.
A deep kick-off and spirited chase forced Royston to play from their own 22. After several forward
carries were halted, a long pass aimed at Royston’s winger sailed instead into touch. As the final
light of the day died, so did Royston’s chance of a remarkable comeback as the final whistle
echoed around to scenes of relief, exhaustion and jubilation. Final score 35-31.

Certainly a game of two halves and not great for the blood pressure from a home spectator on the side-line

The match report was expertly provided by captain Tom Knight,( his 2 tries and a home win had no bearing on him completing such a thorough match report so quickly)