Tor XV Match Reports

Minehaed 24 - 10 Tor RFC , Sat 17th Dec 2011.

This was the return fixture following a narrow loss against Minehead on the second weekend of the season. Sadly TOR had lost 4 key players due to seasonal commitments. However there were returning players from academic and military learning who were keen to show their worth.

Tor started strongly and the pressure soon converted itself to a 3 point lead for centre Matt Hyde following a Minehead infringement. This was short lived with Minehead playing the correct rugby for the conditions, keeping ball in hand and running at Tor. A try conversion and penalty put Minehead ahead within 5 minutes. Tor took the option of kicking good possession away trying to use the wind at their backs to penetrate the Minehead half. With Alfie Lee and Matt Hyde both kicking well this appeared the correct option, however the changes in the lineout meant they were unable to secure consistent clean ball. This failing was made up for with the ferocious tackling and spoiling particularly from Man of the Match Monty Powell, Skipper Toby Payne, full Back James Allin and lock Aaron Marshfield.

The Tor Backs were given plenty of balls but players were not accurate with passing in the strong wind and Minehead's backs were quick to pick up the Tor mistakes. Some unfamiliar positions also contributed to the TOR errors. To add to this, the big Tor pack was strangely struggling in the scrummaging, but No8 Dan Beal and flanker Konrad Hoogesteger were in fine form making use of the limited clean Ball. When Tor had ball in hand they looked really dangerous, but too many mistakes or wrong options meant Minehead scored 2 more tries in quick succession 1 was converted the second quarter was mostly spent defending, where some strong tackling halted several attacks. However one more score was achieved by the agile Minehead Backs who used their straight running style work to their advantage.

The half time score of 24 -3 appeared an unassailable lead and with the wind behind their backs and stiffening Minehead looked set for a further haul of points. Tor knuckled down to the task and with good cover and tackling Tor's defence buckled, but impressively was not broken. After a while some belief crept into their play and although they were still struggling in lineouts the scrum tightened up when Barry Morgan and Andrew Wright came on as replacements. This created extra solid ball for the backs and Wings, Alex Hall and Matt Harris made some scything runs through the Minehead defence. Determined straight running and a pack in the ascendancy soon rewarded Hyde with a try and conversion. Tor ended the game well on top and were on the way to a further score when full time arrived. Having won the second half with the conditions and slope against them Tor can be heartened by their performance late in the game. The rest of the season will be influenced by the consistency of player's availability and the decision making in key positions.