Academy Roundup

National League 1
Esher 28
Cambridge 7

Seb Jewell, Joe Marler Sam Stitcher and Dan Frazier helped Esher back to winning ways this weekend as they eased away from Cambridge to maintain their position at the top of the table.
In previous games Esher looked to be becoming complacent, but they found focus and beat Cambridge convincingly. It only took 16 minutes for Esher to score when they sent the ball down the line, but a bad pass allowed Stitcher to break free, pass to Jewell who glided in under the posts, Ulph converting. After a converted Esher penalty, a hint of complacency started a move that was too casual and allowed Cambridge to intercept, score and convert for 7 points. After half time it was Esher that pressurised and pulled away from Cambridge adding two more tries and a penalty. Final score 28-7.

National League 2 South
Bridgewater & Albion 10
Rosslyn Park 30

Ollie Lyndsay-Hague helped a visiting Rosslyn Park keep up their winning ways at bottom of the league, Bridgewater & Albion.
The home team started off the stronger, when they converted their first penalty chance, followed by a break from a ruck and scoring under the posts, which was also converted. Park responded with an unconverted score for them selves.
The second half saw Park put the home team under pressure despite loosing one of their men to the sin bin and took the lead with two penalties. Park then stepped up the pace and started running back all of Bridgewater & Albion's aimless kicking and scored three tries, the first of them by Harlequins' Ollie Lyndsay-Hague. The final score was 10-30.


Ealing 36
Henley 25

Ealing got their promotion bid back on track this weekend after their loss to Rosslyn Park, but it wasn't made easy for them.
The game started with the points coming from an exchange of kicks, two penalties for Henley and a drop goal for Ealing.
Ealing then scored two tries in succession from quick play with smart kicking work.
Henley hit back with a try of their own after breaking through a gaping hole to go in close to the posts. 15 -13 at half time.
The second half saw Ealing weather early pressure but they were the first to score off a caught cross kick which was offloaded for an easy run in. Henley then moved the ball to go over the Ealing line, but Ealing weren't going to back down and strolled back over the Henley line. Ealing were denied a try from a blatant obstruction, but the penalty try helped secure the victory. Henley fought to the end and finished with another try. 36-25.