TWELVE try Saints did their points difference the world of good with a 66-24 victory over London which was littered with some scintillating tries.
Straight from the off the Saints were in the mood to entertain scoring with their first possession. Two drives from Ross MacCauley and the virtually unstoppable André Savelio propelled the Saints 60 metres downfield and with a penalty it allowed Matty Fozard to open the scoring with a trademark dart at the line from dummy half.
The Broncos gave the Saints a bit of reminder with a try from a deft cross kick to the corner but by the time they scored their second again from a last tackle kick on the stoke of half time the Saints had put the game beyond doubt.
Great blind side play from the left hand side of the Saints attack saw Lewis Galbraith score twice tip-toeing his way down the line after quick hands from Olly Davies and Jake Spedding.
Sandwiched in between was a trademark Savelio try. A big Greg Richards tackle forced the error on the Broncos 30 and from the resultant scrum Savelio was let loose down the right. He swatted off one tackle and fought his way free from three more as he reached out to score.
Not to be out done the right side showed they were just as adept with ball in hand as Matty Fleming’s half break put Jordan Tisdale free and his neat out and in move beat the two covering defenders for his first of the night.
The Saints were spreading the ball wide with impunity by this stage and the Spedding/Galbraith combination combined again to put the winger in the clear. As he approached the beleaguered full back he passed inside to the supporting Lewis Charnock for the first of his hat-trick.
The seventh Saints try of the half saw Spedding deservedly get his name on the scoresheet finishing off a delightful piece of interplay between himself and Galbraith.
The second half saw more of the same as the Saints continued to pound the Broncos line scoring five more tries in the process.
A determined run back from a last tackle kick deep in his own half from Galbraith put the Saint s on the front foot. From the quick play the ball a great inside ball put Fleming on a 60 metre run down the middle. Another quick play the ball and Charnock was left with a 10 metre stroll to the line for his second.
From the restart a good set of six was followed by a great Charnock clearing kick and a fabulous Jordan Tisdale chase which forced a Broncos knock on on their line. Three tackles later and Joe Ryan drove over at the posts.
Again great interplay from two players, this time Dave Hewitt and Olly Davies, produced dividends. Hewitt’s wonderfully disguised short ball put Davies away and the play maker was there to receive the inside ball from his second rower to go the final 30 to the posts.
On the hour mark the Saints were going at a point a minute rate as Charnock scored his third from a great training ground move. The ball was moved the width of the pitch from left to right with everyone standing their man up before passing out to the support culminating with Charnock strolling over in the right corner.
The last twenty minutes became very scrappy as the Saints lost a little interest scoring only once more through Tisdale in the corner.
Whilst the Saints were good with ball in hand and didn’t concede a try crafted by the opposition, the fact that four tries were conceded from kicks and an interception will worry Coach Traynor.
The night saw the successful introduction off the bench of another debutant in the form of James Nicholl, and there were good performances from Savelio, Charnock, Hewitt and Morgan Knowles who improves every time he plays.
Match Summary:
Saints U19s:
Tries: Jordan Tisdale 2, Jake Spedding, Lewis Galbraith 2, Dave Hewitt, Matty Fozard, André Savelio, Lewis Charnock 3, Joe Ryan.
Goals: Lewis Charnock 4, Dave Hewitt 5.
London U19s:
Tries: Alex Walker 2, Charlie Lawrence, Kieron Morgan.
Goals: Charlie Lawrence 4.
Half Time: 36-12
Full Time: 66-24
Teams:
Saints:
1. Ricky Bailey; 5. Jordan Tisdale, 4. Matty Fleming, 3. Jake Spedding, 2. Lewis Galbraith; 6. Lewis Fairhurst, 7. Dave Hewitt; 8. Greg Richards, 9. Matty Fozard, 10. Ross McCauley, 11. Olly Davies, 12. André Savelio, 13. Lewis Charnock.
Subs: 14. Morgan Knowles, 15. Liam Cooper, 16. James Nicholl, 17. Joe Ryan.
London:
1. Richard Harris; 5. Brandon Johnson, 4. Junior Ibrahim, 3. Harvey Burnett, 2. Alex Walker; 6. James Woodburn-Hall, 7. Joe Keyes; 8. Toby Everett, 9. Charlie Lawrence, 10. Alex Taverner, 11. Harry Griffiths, 12. Kieron Morgan, 13. Joel Wicks.
Subs: 14. Liam O’Callaghan, 15. Sadiq Adebiyi, 16. Ash Gingell, 17. Tom Scarsbrook.
