Alcuin recovered from an early setback to record a 25-15 victory over James in the latest of a string of quality games between the two sides.
James were out for revenge after being taken apart 33-0 by Alcuin in the tens tournament the previous weekend, and they stated their intent from the offset when Phil Clayton powered over the line from a quick tap-penalty.
A successful conversion followed by a penalty gave the men in black and white an early 10-0 lead but a powerful drive from Matt Forrest and a Marinus Maris conversion meant that Alcuin were only three points back at the break.
The two sides traded scores early in the second half before Alcuin, who improved their discipline after a series of mistakes and conceded penalties earlier in the game, managed to pull ahead courtesy of Aiden Woodcock and Sonny Dewfall before Maris made it safe with a coolly taken penalty.
The game was reminiscent of the classic the two sides played out in last season’s semi-final, when Alcuin were again forced to overturn a half-time deficit. James again started strongest they didn’t have to wait long to open the scoring. Phil Clayton made the most of some poor Alcuin discipline at the breakdown to piledrive over from a short tap-penalty from just behind the five-metre line.
Alcuin’s play was being hampered by errors and ill-discipline, and James added a further three points from a simple penalty to make it 10-0.
With alarm bells ringing, Alcuin kicked on and begun to dominate. They were camped in the James half for the majority of the rest of the half, but struggled to convert their territory into points.
Their only try of the half came when Sam Asfahani made ground with a strong run from a no.8 pick-up, before Matt Forrest finished the move off, using his size to power over. Maris added the extras.
Both sides went down to 14 men before the break, James due to injury, Alcuin due to a sin-binning for a high tackle from hooker Tom Holder, and both failed to add any further points in the half, meaning James went in 10-7 up.
The second period started frantically. Alcuin took the lead early on and Asfahani was again the provider. After tripping over his own feet, he made amends with a superb offload from the floor which found captain Muzzy Foley out wide, and he made no mistake with the finish.
It was only a matter of minutes before James regained their lead. A series of missed tackles allowed Phil Scott to score out wide to cap off an excellent run and make it 15-12.
Alcuin responded well to going behind and again begun to take control of the game. They regained their lead after a well-timed pass from James Evans set Aiden Woodcock free to score in the corner.
A narrowly missed conversion left Alcuin with a similarly narrow lead, and it was thanks to a series of James errors that the men in red gained some breathing space.
The James attack panicked under some good defensive pressure and Tom Holder twice managed to get his boot to loose passes before the ball bounced kindly into the hands of Sonny Dewfall who ran through clear to score and make it 22-15.
A Marinus Maris penalty later made it 25-15 and put James two scores behind, and despite some late pressure from the black swans, Alcuin held on to claim the well-fought victory.