| BARKING 19, LONDON SCOTTISH 21. SCOTTISH WEATHER BARKING STORM TO KEEP ON TRACK |
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League leaders London Scottish came from behind to overturn a 19-8 half-time deficit and weather a stormy match and equally inclement conditions in East London against Barking to maintain their unbeaten league record and leave themselves just one win away from clinching promotion and with it the National League 3 South title.
On a day when conditions seemed to veer every few minutes from bright sunshine to driving rain, with a half-time hailstorm thrown in for good measure, the hosts stretched Scottish during a match in which the result hung in the balance until the final whistle. Barking began the game with the wind and the slope of the pitch in their favour, but missed an early opportunity to take the lead when a penalty attempt went wide, and fell behind on five minutes when visiting hooker Ben Gotting went over after a push from the Scottish pack. However, fly-half James Brown slipped as he sought to connect with the ball for his conversion attempt, leaving the score at 5-0 to Scottish. The visitors had come into the game having scored 271 and conceded 34 points in their previous four games, but any thoughts that this match would be an equally one-sided affair were dispelled in the 11th minute when Barking took the lead after outside centre Alec Jenkins converted a try from flanker George Kruis, who had exploited a gap down the Scottish left. On 20 minutes, Scottish won a penalty, and with points clearly at a premium on such a blustery afternoon, Brown elected to kick at posts, and this time centred, putting his side 8-7 ahead. Both sides were reduced to 14 men shortly after the half-hour, when Scottish scrum-half Simon Amor and home prop Luke Hunter were sin-binned, and although winger Roman Piotrowski proved an able deputy at half-back for Scottish, it was the hosts who capitalised, winger Nico Fraser going over on the left and Jenkins kicking the conversion for a 14-8 lead. During stoppage time the hosts scored again, this time through hooker Adam Kwasnicki, and although Jenkins failed to add the conversion it was clear that Scottish had a fight on their hands to keep their unbeaten record. A second successful penalty kick from Brown pulled the score back to 19-11 shortly after the restart, and on 48 minutes Scottish clinched what turned out to be a pivotal score through a try from number eight Mark Soden, which Brown converted to put the visitors just one point behind. Although Scottish dominated territory throughout the second half, it wasn’t until the second minute of added time that they went ahead, another penalty from Brown making it 21-19. Belatedly, the hosts roused themselves, providing some anxious moments for Scottish during a seemingly endless period of stoppage time, electing to run a late penalty when a successful kick, albeit against the wind, could have won them a famous victory. Barking 19 (Tries: Kruis, Fraser, Kwasnicki; Conversions: Jenkins (2)) London Scottish 21 (Tries: Gotting, Soden; Conversion: Brown; Penalties: Brown (3)) Barking: Shaw, Fraser, Jenkins, Flannery, Jones, Greatrex, Gash, Rate, Kwasnicki, Hunter, Collier, Lloyd-Jones, Kruis, Etheredge, Kellard (Replacements: Bloomberg, Ambrose, Andrews, Newberry, Rudgeley) London Scottish: Neale, Broughton, Damant, McInroy, Piotrowski, Brown, Amor, Millard, Gotting, Ward, Smith (A), Livingston, Karonias, Volley, Soden (Replacements: Johnston, Leek, Smith (G), Walbyoff, Peel) Match report by Simon MacMichael |
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