| 8 May 2007, 3:23 pm |
| Cambridge Uni Inflict SpoonAAs First Defeat of the Season |
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| An appreciative crowd witnessed a competitive match at Grange Road under floodlights on Wed 28th February between Cambridge University and the SpoonAAs with nine tries being scored in total as Cambridge inflicted a 31-26 defeat on the SpoonAAs. |
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Match Manager Simon Hodgkinson, the former England full back, raised a strong SpoonAAs’ side with the help of Nick Bouy, Dave Muckalt, Steve Nutt and John Traynor which included players from New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Unfortunately they lost by the odd try to the enterprising Cambridge University team who had twelve blues in their squad who had played in the victorious Varsity match team last December.
Thanks to the powerful running of centre Dave Tibbot, the home side went into a 15-0 lead before the invitation side recovered from their travelling. Following a period of intense pressure, SpoonAAs scored from a driving maul and then just before half-time the flying Jack Smales of Tynedale rounded off a sizzling break by Paul Baird formerly of Moseley to score under the posts. The conversion meant that the visitors were only 12-17 down at the break.
SpoonAAs went into the lead 19-17 immediately after half-time when Jack Smales scored a virtuoso try. He broke, chipped over the full back, gathered his kick and sprinted on from the ten metre line to score under the posts. Two converted tries by the home team were cancelled out by a penalty try awarded to the SpoonAAs in the final minute when the referee deemed that a driving maul had been stopped illegally. 31-26 was a fair reflection of an excellent evening of Rugby which was enjoyed by both players and spectators.
The SpoonAAs are indebted to the kind hospitality of Cambridge University RUFC and Spoon has benefited from a generous donation by the club.
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| Author: Sarah Griffiths |
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