Old E'dians13

Bancroft29

(Eastern Counties Two South)

OLD Edwardians took full advantage of a sluggish start from the visitors, opening the scoring after 10 minutes with a simple, well supported drive up the middle.

The visitors were penalised several times allowing Edwardians a good position and soon a penalty deservedly extended their lead to 10 points.

With two minutes remaining before half time Bancroft threw theirselves a lifeline when King collected a clever Craig Adams pass off the wing resulting in a converted try to leave a half-time scoreline of 10-7 to the home side.

However, the second half saw a revitalised Bancroft side and after 15 minutes the tide had turned in their favour. Good work by Ryall, Leck and de Vere-Hunt broke the Edwardians' defensive line, allowing James to pick his way through the mayhem to score an unconverted try.

James then immediately latched on to a high kick, forcing the ball to spill loose. King hacked through, outpaced the home fullback and toed the ball beyond the try line, collecting the ball himself and brought the ball down close to the posts for an easy conversion.

The hosts responded well and kicked a penalty to bring them back to within a score of Bancroft, but the game was made safe for the visitors when Thame forced a mis-kick that fell to King who fed Nixon out wide and the Bancroft's man sprinted home.

January 30, 2003 10:30