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 Comments are closed.
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