Oxford U21 22
Cambridge U21 0Oxford’s youngsters went some way towards making up for their senior colleagues’ narrow inability to pick up the MMC Trophy with a comfortable win over the Light Blues in the early-afternoon sunshine. Wellworked first half tries by Peter Cuff and John Ray ensured that the Blues were able to play out a comfortable second period in which their Cambridge counterparts rarely threatened, and closed out the match in stoppage time to give the score a realistic shine. Blues winger Tom Buttle was a constant threat in the first half and a thrilling burst took him half the length of the pitch, only to run the ball narrowly out under pressure. Such a swift gain of territory proved to be crucial, soon resulting in an Oxford scrum after a knock-on around the Cambridge twenty-two. The ball broke to Pitcher, who released Doug Abbott, who in turn spread the ball to Cuff, who burst through for the opening try of the game in the sixteenth minute.Pitcher failed to convert from a wide position. Buttle again threatened almost straight from the restart, but the game entered a scrappy phase with Cambridge unable to gain any foothold on proceedings and the Blues defending solidly when required, Edlington producing some crunching interventions. Six minutes from the break Henderson tried his luck again with a penalty but sent the kick wide. Henderson’s miss was compounded in the final minute of the half, when a counter on the lefthand side saw Ray overlap to go over for the Blues’ second try. Pitcher duly converted for a deserved 15–0 interval lead. The second half rarely hit the heights of the first, with substitutions and the sin-bin doing little to aid continuity. Dave Hammond was proving instrumental in Oxford’s best moments, seeing much of the ball as the Blues dominated possession, but few chances were made. Cambridge got sharper in the tackle but were too often let down by poor decision-making, and something of a stalemate ensued. This period of dominance paid off in stoppage time when Hammond, easily the best player on the pitch in the second period, crashed over near the posts after a move involving Edington and Pitcher.
Archive: 0th week HT 2004
