Grey suffer narrow defeat
An unusually green and warm Queenstown welcomed Grey PE this past weekend for their annual derby clash against their old foes Queen's College, culminating in the First XV clash on the Recreation Ground.
Grey started slowly as numerous unforced errors kept them from gaining any cohesion on attack, while Queen's were happy to keep their opponents pinned in our own half via the siege gun boot of Joshua Stander A forgettable first ten minutes ended with the Stander converting his second long range attempt at goal to take the lead.
This seemed to stir Grey into action, and after Gary Loest launched a long-range kick of his own into the left hand corner, a Queenian palmed the ball across the touchline and the resultant penalty was kicked into touch. An excellent lineout drive surged over the goalline, Sam Twenty scoring a try on debut. The conversion sailed wide, but Grey now had the lead, 5 points to 3.
Almost immediately from the restart, fantastic interplay between the Grey outside backs saw Luyanda Odolo finish off a long try under the posts. The conversion was successful and Grey now led by 12 points to 3. The final 14 minutes of the half were like the first, a forgettable mix of nervous, listless play and unforced errors by both teams.
The second half was delayed by the replacement of the appointed official, who had strained a hamstring. The referee of the second team match was nominated to take over, but this was rejected by the Grey coaching staff as he is the father of the Queen's First XV scrumhalf, Juan-Phillip Smith. As such the referee who had officiated the Third XV match took to the field and restarted the match.
Grey seemed more coherent in the opening exchanges and gained a level of territorial and 7 minutes into the half Alex Banfield ran onto a deft grubber kick to score under the poles. Gary Löest stroked the conversion over, and at 19 points to 3 Grey had what appeared to be a comfortable lead.
The adage of playing for the full 70 minutes ran true to their detriment however, as Queen's began to up the ante, and pressured their opponents into giving away penalties. Stander succeeded with penalty goals in the 10th and 13 minutes as Queen's began to chip away at their opponents' lead. The latter penalty saw the ball fall off the kicking tee before being deftly drop-kicked over - impressive skill by Stander.
Queen's then worked their way up the right hand touchline before being awarded a penalty in the Grey 22m area. They kicked for touch and scored in the corner after a passage of hard graft by their forwards. The difficult conversion soared over the crossbar and Grey's lead had been reduced to only three points, 19 points to 16 with 20 minutes gone.
A moment of lunacy by the Grey scrumhalf saw him yellow carded for a shoulder charge only moments later. Stander duly slotted the easy kick and the score was level.
The men in blue finally seemed to up their intensity, but some panicky play saw them undo two clear scoring chances with forward passes, and they also missed a penalty kick, which rebounded off the upright.
With five minutes left, sustained pressure saw Grey string a succession of phases together in the Queen's 22m area. A gap opened up and Alborough ghosted through, delirious celebrations beginning on the blue side of the pavilion before the realisation sank in that the try hadn't been awarded - the ball was dropped behind the try line and scrum to Queen's.
With time running out Queen's surged up the field before the inevitable occurred - a penalty to Queen's for hands in at the ruck.
Again, Stander stepped up to kick the winning penalty. The final score 19 points to 22. A heart-breaking loss for Grey on a day when they didn't seem to be switched on. All talk of what could have and what should have been is irrelevant, Grey had their chances and lost to a gallant and courageous Queen's who never gave up.