OAs vs Cranleigh
(Away - 5th January 2008)

Cranleigh RFC - 3 (0) [P]

Old Alleynians FC - 12 (0) [T: Barnes, Mead; C: Rutteman]

Old Alleynians opened the second half of their Surrey One campaign with a hard fought win away at Cranleigh. Six weeks on from their eight try home victory over the same opponents there was little repeat of such a scoreline as a significantly improved Cranleigh side made Old Alleynians work hard for the two league points.

The first period was a story of two halves as Old Alleynians started strongly but failed to reflect their possession and territory on the scoreboard. The strong Cranleigh scrum and lineout functioned well throughout the match, often turning ball over and stifling Old Alleynians of clean ball to release their better backline. Cranleigh posed several threats towards the end of the first half but rarely looked like crossing the Old Alleynian try line due to the resolute defence.

Old Alleynians missed the chance to take the half time lead when a penalty went to the right of the posts but turned round with the slight wind advantage for the second period. Cranleigh opened the scoring though when a penalty, for not rolling away, was well struck from 30m out by the home fly half.

This seemed to spur Old Alleynians forward and from the kick off Cranleigh failed to clear their lines. Their fly half got caught in possession by two Old Alleynian tacklers and from the resultant turnover, the ball was spread wide for Barnes to finish well in the right corner.

The remainder of the half was a tight affair with little side making much headway, partly due to some indifferent handling and the offensive defences. The game was ultimately made safe when a long period of pressure inside the Cranleigh half found the home right winger infield, allowing Mead to collect a cross field kick and round his man to score, with Rutteman adding the extras.

Old Alleynians came away pleased with the win after the Christmas break but also in the knowledge that harder fixtures lie ahead over the next few months. This weekend sees a break from league action and a return to the Surrey Shield when they travel to Merton and a tricky tie against Old Rutlishians, 2pm kick off.

Team: Woodford, Fison, Van der Westhuizen, Richardson, Thomas, Mahoney, Hartley, Hood, Robertson, Docherty, Barnes, Rutteman, Sandars, Mead, Ayres.
Subs: Barrett, Juuko, Wisson.