Salisbury 33 - London Irish Wild Geese 58
23rd. September 2023: Salisbury entertained London Irish Wild Geese (Irish) who had a lively gaggle of travelling supporters on the touchline.
The game sparked into action with a handy interception from Will Murley to scamper under the posts and a first minute lead of 7-0 to Salisbury. This gain was, however, immediately cancelled by sloppy play from the greens providing a gift of a try to Irish in the 3rd minute and it was already 7-5 less than 5 minutes on the clock!
It was end to end stuff and, after Salisbury showed some promising authority in the lineout followed by some skilful handling, James Kennedy retaliated with a try for Salisbury in the 6th minute to make the score 14-5. The scores kept on coming and the Irish backs, who were looking comfortable on the ball, stretched the Salisbury backline with a try in the 17th minute quickly followed by another interception score in the 27th. Only a quarter of the game was gone and the score was 14-15 to the Irish.
Although Irish kept launching attacks through the first half, the home forwards were providing good ball from the tight which eventually led to veteran Gareth Blackborow scoring in the 24th minute. Salisbury were beginning to make life difficult for themselves though and poor exit drills were compounded with a try from Irish following a ropy exit kick from Salisbury. This was a gift to the Irish backs who did not waste the opportunity with a clever cross kick picked up by the winger for another visitor try.
All credit to Salisbury though and they fought back on the 35th minute with a try for Aaron Hold, the promising fly half, who feigned a pass to glide under the posts. Irish were not done either and another error from Salisbury provided the ball to Irish just before the break. 26-22 at half time and the crowd, if not the players, were exhausted and in need of a rest!
The game was settling into a tussle between strong, flighty Irish backs against the robust home pack of forwards but basic mistakes were becoming a common occurrence by Salisbury at this stage. This was aggravated by two quick yellow cards in succession for Salisbury who were then, unsurprisingly, beginning to tire with only 13 players on the pitch. The possession stats were growing for Irish and four unanswered tries were scored in less than 20 minutes with the score at 26-46 at the 60 minute mark. There was no way back now for a tiring Salisbury pack now as the error count grew and the shape was, unfortunately, lost.
Irish were outpacing the greens at this stage and penalties ensued with the sense that the referee was becoming more frustrated with the home side infringements leading to a third yellow for Salisbury. Two more Irish tries in the 59th & 70th minute were followed by maybe the highlight of Salisbury’s day. Centre Chris Vuki found some space on the left and, with a deft pass back in, found Murley who topped and tailed the game with a last minute sprint to score under the posts.
Final score of 33-58 and 10 tries to a good Irish side and some promising play from Salisbury resulting in a much needed bonus point and 5 tries. Reflections from players and supporters alike highlight the need to keep improving conditioning, continue to work on the drills with the aim of not tailing off in the second half of the game. So, work to continue through the week by the players and coaching staff for 9th placed Salisbury travelling to 4th place Winchester next Saturday.
Report: David Murley
Photos: John Palmer
