Seconds Out, Round Two

After some careful consideration and a bit of subtle editing, which may or may not have included the use of a dictionary, we have now completed the reviews sent in by our ace reporters who were match side for the first of the finals. As the Ladies kicked off first, we thought that they should get top billing. Told you we were fair, so no accusations of sexism from the men please.
With bated breath, the excited mass of onlookers watched the gladiators take to the pitch, both teams were looking nervous as did the officials. Of, course the two coaches, Oscar and Guy probably had a slight tension in their stomachs also, as they neared the end of a long and tiring season spent training their respective athletes.
Uppsala started brightly and held the upper hand for the first quarter but without bothering the bright new scoreboard. Just after the quarter, Goteborg struck with a breakaway try and that signaled a complete turn around in the match. With Goteborg's confidence rising and Uppsala's wilting, the result was starting to appear to be a clear win for the team from the West. Guided by the experienced hand of their Fly Half, they started to mount up the points and although entertaining the close fought encounter that everybody predicted, didn't happen. Although in the latter stages of the match, the visiting team again started to dominate the play, it was to little too late. It would be a brave person to forecast Uppsala turning things around at home next week, but they did succeed two weeks ago. So can Guy can once again perform his magic or be outdone by Oscar? We shall see after all being 32-8 down is a big ask.

Due to a pitch invasion by a group of kids. Sorry, what was that?, (oh,that meant to read a display of Tag and Youth rugby. Actually it was entertaining to watch, well done to all those that took part.)

The Men's final kicked off a few minutes late, on a far from perfect surface, with water lying on top of the pitch in some areas and the field looking very heavy. This was going to have an effect on players as the game wore on, but right from the start Enkoping tore into Exiles and played at quite a fast tempo. One thing that stood out in those first twenty minutes was the dominance of the team in White. It soon became apparent that Exiles were struggling to play their game and could not get any decent ball. They were struggling at the set piece and were being outplayed in all departments. It wasn't long before Enkoping crossed the whitewash to score and continued to do so throughout the first half, with Exiles managing just one penalty. Just before half-time Enkoping mounted a ferocious attack in the Exiles half that contained some tremendous continuity, had they scored then, it would have probably sealed the match, but some heroic defending by Exiles resulted in the end, to a penalty being awarded to the Men in Black and they cleared their lines to end the half.
The majority of the crowd were discussing what the final score would be and if Exiles could keep the score below an achievable target . Few would have guessed anything else.
However, with the Exiles supporters, which included those Hammarby players that had only just lost to them the week before, Exiles started to turn the game around. More experienced players came on, the forwards started to get parity in the scrums and began to win their lineouts. The Enkoping forwards were starting to wilt and as a result lost their discipline, which eventually led to a yellow card against them. A couple of good scores reduced the lead and but for a missed penalty and a forward pass they would have taken the lead. Eventually Enkoping managed a penalty score in the second half, which was just enough and they kept the lead by 4 points to end 17-21 winners at the final whistle.
The referee had a fine match and controlled the game well and we hope that next week's will be as good.
An entertaining match and we are looking forward to the finale.