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Photos: Philip Mourdijs
Derwent gave Alcuin a lesson in rugby that won’t be forgotten for a while, marauding to a 95-0 victory, scoring 15 tries, and claiming the college league to confirm their status as one of the most dominant teams in York’s history. Indeed the only disappointment was they didn’t make it to the one hundred mark.
Pre-match talk of a closer encounter was quickly discarded, as Derwent came out of the blocks at a rate of knots, clearly up for the occasion. Phil “The Situation” Hammick burst through, brushing off the Alcuin tackles with ease for the opening try, which was unconverted.
Alcuin immediately went on the attack, with captain Muzzy Foley executing an incisive pass to put them in a strong attacking position. However, they failed to capitalise on the opportunity as the attack quickly fizzled out and the Derwent defence was able to regroup, blunting Alcuin’s follow-up attacks.
This would prove to be by far Alcuin’s best play of the game, as they were unable to seriously challenge the Derwent try line.
Derwent regained their composure and immediately returned to the offensive. Richard Whittaker went on the rampage scoring two tries in quick succession, the second of which was a great individual run, while Hammick succeeded with both conversions to push Derwent into a commanding 19-0 lead after only 20 minutes.
Although the match was virtually over as a competitive fixture even at this early stage, Derwent were in no mood to take their foot off the gas and mounted an attack once again. A great pass from Alex Cochrane-Dyet saw the Alcuin line under threat once again, and although that particular attack was nullified, Josh Clewes struck like a viper from the resulting lineout to extend Derwent’s lead to 26-0.
The match entered something of a equilibrium as the half neared its conclusion, but Derwent were still comfortably in control. Unsurprisingly Derwent were on a different level, but even by their standards this was an exceptionally well drilled performance. They were able to come out on top of virtually every contested ball and marginal situation, and were man for man vastly the physically superior team.
Alcuin, who were missing a few key players, were decidedly off form, making numerous handling errors and giving the ball away too easily. Some of their clearances could only be described as diabolical, failing to achieve any air and putting them on the back foot in terms of positioning.
The final minutes of the first half saw the Derwent onslaught resume, with Ed Kemp scoring seemingly out of nowhere after a brilliant individual run. Further brilliance followed with a quality offload from Josh Salter setting up Clewes’ second try.
Derwent were able to penetrate the Alcuin defence like a hot knife through butter, and this was perfectly demonstrated by a brilliant long run down the length of the pitch by Kemp for his second. This was followed by another long run from Chris Judge who offloaded to Luca Illing to create a crushing 45-0 scoreline at half time.
The second half began in much the same vein with Kemp, almost immediately after the whistle, going over for his third try. Hammick, who had been on excellent form all day, was able to make a difficult conversion in blustery conditions.
With the score quickly resembling that of the cricket match on the adjoining pitch, Bryden Ridgeway struck to make it 59-0 and pile on the agony for Alcuin.
Alcuin hadn’t given up on the dream of scoring and made some promising attacks, but the brutal enforcement of the Derwent defence quickly put a stop to any outlandish hopes they may have had of crossing the try line. Kemp then turned the screw further with his fourth try to make the score 64-0.
Substitute Rob Wilson made an immediate impact, crossing the line twice in quick succession. Ridgeway scrambled over for his second to make it 78-0, before Clewes added his third with a surging run.
The end couldn’t come soon enough for Alcuin, who were completely limp and lacklustre in all departments, lacking in any inspiration. Derwent pushed on in the hope they may have been able to reach the century mark.
Fairness was the order of the day for the final try when a Hammick run set up a great chance for Wilson, but he in a nice gesture opted to pass to Dan Perry who raised the score to a thumping 95-0.
Derwent Captain Chris Judge was understandably delighted with his team’s display, telling Vision: “We put in a lot of training this week, a lot of effort. We’ve been looking forward to this game for four or five weeks now. Just really proud of this team.”
Alcuin Captain Muzzy Foley took the defeat in good humour, remarking: “Has there been a match today? Because I don’t remember one! It was a close match….. The Chelsea one that was! Well done to Derwent, all credit due they played really well. Maybe next year…”
For Alcuin it was a thoroughly disappointing end to the league season. As for Derwent, this demonstrates their deserved place in the annals of York sporting history as one of the most dominant sides to ever take to the field of play.