Sunday saw St Albans Centurions Masters join forces with Southampton Spitfires, Medway Dragons, Halcyon Masters and a couple from West Warriors to take on Globetrotting South London Silverbacks at London Broncos!
We were due to play on pitch 1 but pitch 2 seemed just as good so we played there instead. Poo pooing the Broncos offer of the toilet block to change in, the teams changed at pitchside, the rules were explained and a great match started! 23 players in total got entertained with some decent runs and good defence on display. Plenty of tries were scored and lots of fun was had. Ben Moralee, Phil Bignell, new recruit Danny Martindale, Mad Mark from Watford and Mick O'Shea represented the Centurions in the 20th Anniversary Strip. Ex Centurion Glenn Tyreman played too. Everyone stayed to watch the Broncos beat table toppers St Helens afterwards with Gary Tetlow, Steve Kenworthy and Gavin Willacy in the crowd also. Cheers to Haden Jackson Robbins for the photos and video!
The Centurions claimed their first piece of silverware in nine years after a “Grandstand” finish to an enthralling Cup Final including a perfect up ‘n’ under to set up the decisive try just two minutes from time (see video clip).
The contest looked anything but nail-biting after St Albans stormed into a 10-0 lead within the first 5 minutes. On their very first attack, Man of the Match Kristian Naylor bulldozed over in typical fashion. Three minutes later some sublime rugby league saw a quick interchange of passes and the ball slipped inside to the inspirational Sam Bucknall who brushed aside two tacklers to score under the posts. Will Curtis slotted the conversion. However, Brentwood Eels hadn’t reached the Final by accident and on their first meaningful attack, they split the St Albans defence to score a converted try. A barnstorming Scott Clewlow try and a second Curtis kick, restored the 10-point cushion, only for the Eels to score in the corner and kick the conversion from the touchline to bring them back into the game. Just fifteen minutes gone and the score was already 16-12. Then the tide really turned. On the half-hour mark, Brentwood made the most of a succession of penalties against the Centurions to work their way up the field and eventually crash over the line for a third converted try. Shortly afterwards, St Albans were reduced to 12 men for persistent offside. Despite this, they set up a great chance to re-take the lead only for the ball to be spilled on the final pass. With the last action of the first half, the Eels sneaked over in the corner for a fourth try. Half-time: 16-22. Within 2 minutes of the re-take, Josh Lawrence closed the gap to just two points with a trademark try from close-in. But 5 minutes later, Brentwood’s speedy youngsters added yet another converted try to put one hand on the cup. The Centurions then laid siege to the Eels’ try line. Wave after wave of attack were repelled by the determined but increasingly desperate Essex outfit. A was-it-wasn’t-it try for full-back Kieran O’Shea was ruled out by the touch judge for a knock-on. And both Alastair Luftig and Godson Sadu appeared to have crossed the line only to be pushed back into play by the Brentwood defence. With 5 minutes to go and the Eels reduced to 12 men for dissent, Naylor smashed through the tiring ranks of the Brentwood defence to reduce the arrears to four. Then, with just 120 seconds left on the clock, came “that kick”. Whilst there was pandemonium all around him, Bucknall calmly looked up, spotted the opportunity and launched a towering up ‘n’ under into the in-goal area. Conor Moore timed his run and jump perfectly to claim the ball and touchdown to bring the scores level. But the Cents could not relax yet. With the scores level, an unlikely hero stepped up to put the Centurions ahead... For the first time in his Centurions career, Dominic Hearne used his military experience to take on the highest pressure kick of the season. From wide out on the right his kick was long and true and Centurions were two points ahead. It is safe to say he will be taking up this responsibility on a regular basis, and the Cents are relieved to have found this hidden talent, albeit deep into the season. Somehow the Eels re-gathered the ball from the re-start and pressed for the try that would guarantee victory. On their sixth tackle, and only metres from the St Albans line, Brentwood opted for a grubber kick to split the Centurions’ defence. Unphased by the pressure, young Alex Curtis dived full length to gather the ball safely and, in doing so, seized hold of the cup. One tackle later, the final whistle sounded and the celebrations began. Player/coach Simba Mupamhanga, couldn’t contain his delight: “I knew very early on that we had something special coming together this season. Even when we’ve been depleted by injuries, everyone in the squad who’s pulled on the shirt has been committed to the cause. The atmosphere amongst the boys on Saturday was electric and they thoroughly deserved to get their hands on some silverware. What a game … and what a kick!” The Centurions meet the Eels again in the League on Saturday 27th July, 2.30pm start, in Brentwood. St Albans Centurions 30 Brentwood Eels 28 Sat. 20th July, 2.30pm k.o. Bedford You can purchase high quality photos from the game from our professional photographer Darryl Brown on our photo website. Despite an injury list as long as the Punic Wars, the Centurions marched up to St Ives with just thirteen fit men to take on a full complement of Cambridgeshire’s finest. Just two weeks’ earlier, the Roosters had handed St Albans a lesson and must have been licking their lips at the prospect of another easy victory. However, the final scoreline masks the away team’s heroic efforts.
In driving rain, the Centurions put on a 40-minute master-class in the art of defence. Wave after wave of green shirts were denied as the Centurions put their bodies on the line. Forwards Niall Braniff, Roy Dube and Callum Porter made a bone-crunching 53 tackles between them. Eventually, St Ives opted for Plan B, and on 35 minutes their left winger caught a speculative up-and-under over the line to put them on the scoreboard. On the stroke of half-time, they were behind. A rare foray into the opposition half saw St Albans win back-to-back penalties and just as the seconds ran out, player-coach Simba Mupamhanga took a short pass to evade the full back and touch down under the posts. Dale Gardner converted for an unlikely, but thoroughly deserved, 6-4 lead. The second half, however, proved to be too much of an ask. St Ives, introduced more width on their play and once Isaac Lee (who’d already been in the wars), was carried from the field of play, the Centurions’ dream left with him. On the hour mark, Gardner, who was carrying a knock from the start, hobbled to the bench and the floodgates opened. Mupamhanga was philosophical about the defeat: “by a long way, the first-half was our best defensive performance of the season. Victory was always going to beyond us against a very good team with 18 players to bring on and off but just to have them worried at half-time was a great moral success. I couldn’t have been prouder.” The Centurions meet Brentwood in Bedford for the Cup Final on Saturday 20th July, 2.30pm start. Final score: St Ives Roosters 42 St Albans Centurions 6 Sat. 6th July, 2.30pm On the hottest day of the year, a disciplined performance in the face of an over-aggressive Hemel outfit was enough to see St Albans reach the final of the East League Cup.
In the extreme heat, the game was played in four quarters to allow for additional water breaks. So fierce was the tackling in the first quarter between the keenest of local rivals, that it ended without troubling the scoreboard. However, the Centurions had had the better of the exchanges and shortly after the first-half re-started, Kieran O’Shea made this dominance count by weaving through the Stags’ defence to score the opening try, converted by Will Curtis. Stout defending kept the Stags at bay and only slip-ups close to the Hemel line prevented the Centurions from extending the lead. Inevitably, on 34 minutes, St Albans added a deserved second try when Brad Webber powered through to cap another faultless performance. Half-time 10-0 to St Albans. Refreshed after the break, Hemel were able to dominate possession and territory early in the second half and, eventually, the Centurions’ line broke to concede a converted try. But St Albans soon re-exerted control despite a succession of high tackles and niggling fouls. On 55 minutes Alex Curtis smashed over the line, soon followed by Peter Strain’s superb run which saw him break tackle after tackle to score in the corner. Hemel caught St Albans out when they recovered their short re-start kick and set up an instant reply. With 5 minutes to go, however, St Albans restored its 12-point lead as Dale Gardner danced his way through the Hemel backline to score his customary try, which Will Curtis converted. With Hemel’s short re-start knocked on by the Centurions, they recovered the ball again and from the resulting scrum added a third converted try to bring the score to within 6 points with just 3 minutes to go. Thoughts of a tie and golden-point extra time were put to bed when Hemel knocked on to concede possession. Before the scrum could be taken, the referee blew for full-time and St Albans emerged victorious. Sadly, an incident off-the-pitch left St Albans’ physio, Len McMain, with a nasty head injury to bring an unsavoury end to what had been a feast of summer rugby. The matter is under investigation. Coach Mupamhanga was delighted with the victory: “make no bones about it, this was a tough local derby. Hemel were in our faces from the outset and discipline was key. Our defence was exceptional throughout and in the end we should have won by more. These are the standards we have to maintain for the rest of the season.” The Centurions are next at home on Saturday 13th July. They face Brentwood Eels in the Cup Final on Saturday 20th July at Bedford Tigers’ ground. Both games start at 2.30pm. final score: St Albans Centurions 24 Hemel Stags 18 Sat. 29th May, 2.30pm k.o. at Toulmin Drive, St Albans What a great day of Rugby League in the South was had as Hampshire took on Hertfordshire in the scorching heat! As with all games, honours remained even and a great day of 11 a side over 35s rugby saw some real stalwarts of the game come back into the Centurions Fold.
Free Beer as always helped soothe any aches - there were no injuries in the game - and not even a hint of foul play occurred. Many thanks to Peter Longbottom for sorting the paperwork out at the 11th hour! Many thanks to Mrs O'Shea for providing the food for the players! And many thanks to Adie and his Spitfires and Aldershot brothers for travelling to us! There was even a Lancaster Bomber flyby to honour the occasion! EVERYONE HAS RECEIVED COUNTY HONOURS NOW, SO WELL DONE US! -Biggus Mickus |
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