Staines Twickenham dream comes to an end

Staines lost their eagerly awaited EDF Intermediate Cup quarter-final tie at the Reeves on Saturday, when they were outscored by three tries to two by an experienced North One side, writes Tony Brightwell.

It was an excellent match, played at a hard and fast pace but in the true spirit of the game, well refereed by Andy Bickle, who allowed the game to flow freely and rarely had to admonish either side for foul play.

Staines had come off the back of a great win against league leaders Chingford last week, which propelled them back into the promotion mix.

Birkenhead Park, on the other hand, had slipped out of the promotion race in their league in recent weeks and this had hardened their resolve to win and progress to Twickenham.

Their intent was demonstrated by the team coming down to the south-east on Friday night and it was clear that they would be dangerous opponents, playing their league rugby in a division above that of the home side.

From Staines' perspective, the game opened brightly. Their front five immediately imposing themselves on the visitors, securing enough possession to be able to test out the Birkenhead Park back line.

Through early pressure, the Staines lineout, which functioned well all afternoon, secured the ball in the Park 22.

A drive and release brought centre Jon Turner into the line, he punched a hole in the visitors defence, shrugging off his marker to score under the posts. The try was converted and Staines were the early leaders by 7-0.

Staines continued to have the most of the pressure in the initial exchanges and briefly threatened to go two scores in front.

Perhaps the turning point in the game for the home side came when flanker Brian Sibthorpe, with the try line in his sights, was taken out by a thunderous defensive tackle, stopping him dead in his tracks. Birkenhead Park then seized the initiative and the game.

The visitors now took control of the first half. Their back row had the edge, both disruptive and destructive, in a fine display that strangled the Staines attacking game plan and either slowed or starved them of possession.

Birkenhead pushed Staines deep into their own half through a series of penalty kicks and, from a resultant lineout, their forwards drove for the line, allowing their top try scorer and hooker to score the first of two tries.

The conversion failed and Staines were still ahead, nevertheless, with their loose forwards dominating and their half backs controlling the game.

Birkenhead Park were in the ascendancy, Staines had no answer to the visitors driving maul which either led directly to or created their three tries.

Another crushing blow to the Staines cause was the departure through injury of their prop Leonard Liebenburg, an influential player in their line-up.

He was later joined by the Staines lock Junior Harrison and any thoughts of the home side edging out their opponents in the set piece were dissipated.

Park went further ahead with another forward orchestrated rolling maul, releasing their centre for the try, a further penalty put them 13-7 in front.

Mistakes now started to creep into the Staines game, as Birkenhead Park cranked up the pressure, resulting in valuable ground being lost.

Their fly-half was achieving good yardage on his kicks, driving Staines back deep into their own territory, inevitably.

Staines conceded Park's third try, through yet another but wholly effective driving maul which pulled the Staines defence this way and that before forcing their hooker across the try line.

Staines were now 20-7 down, not quite out of the game but with a mountain to climb.

The players dug deep in the second half, deciding to run at the visitors defence both through the middle and out wide, where Birkenhead Park were probably at their most vulnerable.

However, this strategy required a plentiful supply of ball, a commodity which the visitors, through the experience and nous of their standout player and number seven Shudall, continued to deny them.

Staines also defended well to deny the Park and their scrum-half Lowry, who also had a fine game, although Staines were feeding off scraps of quick possession.

They were rewarded with a breakout from defence and took the ball up deep into the visitors territory, scrum-half Richard Scott spotted a gap in their defence and exploited it to run in from 30m out, the conversion failed but Staines were clinging on to the game.

Their hopes were quickly dashed, however, when Birkenhead Park increased their lead with another penalty, Staines had won the half but not the match.

A good cup run then for Staines, of the eight sides remaining in the competition, the Snakey Lane side were ranked the lowest based on the league in which they compete.

They can take tremendous heart and encouragement from this match, knowing that only a few tweaks to their existing squad, will ensure a competitive outfit in London League 1, should they be promoted come the end of the season.

Staines League campaign continues at Thurrock on Saturday, the major problem appears to be a mounting injury list, should this not become a factor, they are well on course for promotion.