Syston 7 – 22 Old Halesonians

THE return of prop Rich Taylor was a much needed boost for Old Hales who took the field in dominant mood against Syston, who defeated league leaders Nuneaton last week.

Early on Hales skipper Steve Leach and Loz Breese led from the front supported by scrum half Ben Tibbetts who kept the visitors on the front foot for most of the game.

Young hooker Scott Rudge again put in a reliable shift with experienced back row Neil Mason the driving force around many passages of play. After 14 minutes of Hales pressure, Syston were looking to run everything.

The home side drove from a lineout and Hales' Tom King collapsed the maul receiving a yellow card. Syston chose to go for the lineout which was disrupted by some strong Hales defence.

On 28 minutes Leach forced his way through the defence. Taylor received the pass, to Chris Hooper who put Luke Smith away out wide. Smith out-sprinted his opposite man for a try.

Ten minutes later the visitors again on the attack. Back row Joe Collingham eventually got into his game with some telling runs.

Man of the match Breese was everywhere, he collected and again made good ground. Jay Reid took the ball forward to Hooper who beat a man to feed Smith to Robinson who ran 20 metres for the line.

He was stopped short but passed to the supporting Taylor who broke the line for a brilliant try, converted by Hooper to make the score 0 - 12 at half time.

It was important for Hales to maintain the pressure from the off, as they again took the game to Syston. The home side moved their fullback to fly half and their plan was to kick for territory. Hales made changes, Rob Butler on for Matt Young at prop and Rich Sawyer on for King in the second row.

Both Butler and Sawyer made their mark in the scrum and Sawyer was aggressive in the loose play. On 60 minutes Leach gathered from the base and drove forward, Sawyer was in support with Mason and Breese were again involved. A move down the left saw Collingham collect, he took on the home full back who never stood a chance and went over for a try.

Syston regrouped and within five minutes had a rare break through the Hales defence for a converted try under the posts. The visitors, who lost Barkley through injury replaced by Ian Briggs, needed to step up a gear. Breese and Tibbetts again took the role of play makers and a 10 minute passage of play by Hales was a highlight of the game and an indication of what they are capable of.

Full back George Grieve collected the ball just in the Syston half. He beat a man and fed Collingham who made metres. With most of the team involved in the move Mason gathered the ball on the charge, to Tibbetts, to Smith to Robinson and again to Smith for the final score in the corner.

After the game Coach Ben Hughes said: "We showed in passages of play, particularly the last period, what a great team we can be. We need to take that into the Sheffield game next week"

Hales meet Sheffield at home on Saturday in the rearranged league fixture, kick off 2.15 pm.

Syston second XV 37 - 10 Old Halesonians second XV

Old Hales started the game well and had the majority of possession in the early stages. The visitors were dominant in the scrum and used it to their advantage.

After 12 minutes Old Hales were awarded the put in to a scrum 10 metres from the Syston try line. The scrum was driven forward and Syston collapsed the scrum illegally to stop a certain try, the referee had no choice but to award a penalty try to Old Hales. Andy Tromans added the conversion.

Old Hales continued to dominate possession and extended their lead to 0-10 when Syston were caught offside and Tromans landed a penalty kick from 30 metres.

Syston forced their way back into the game and following a period of pressure moved the ball swiftly to the right to score in the corner. The Syston fly half confidently landed the conversion to make the score 7-10.

Just before half time Old Hales made several attempts to score from close range and the best chance came when scum half Tom Shakespear dived over the try line only for the ball to be dislodged from his grasp.

Syston took the field for the second half with a spring in their step and after only two minutes their right wing scored in the right hand corner; once again the try was converted confidently.

Syston went further ahead when they punished two Old Hales infringements with two successful penalty kicks, stretching the lead.

In the last quarter of the game Old Hales squandered too much possession and Syston made the most of this by scoring three more tries without reply.