Rugby Clifton surge clear in the second half to see off Guernsey
CLIFTON turned in arguably their best performance of the season to defeat vsitors Guernsey 40-17 with a spirted performance.
Guernsey’s two converted tries and a penalty made up their score. They were in contention at the interval but in the second half tired considerably and lost some discipline as their hosts showed great composure and returned to their early-season form.
Both teams began the game with some ambitious play, and following a rolling maul Brad Talbot surged over to open the Clifton account, with Like Cozens adding the extras. Guernsey pressure gave Owen Thomas a chance to narrow the lead with a penalty, before an attacking kick gave Joe Andresen the opportunity to cross. Thomas again kicked the conversion to put the islanders ahead.
A catch-and-drive led to flanker Dan Broady going over by the posts to put Clifton back in front, before scrum-half Andrew Simmers sped more than 50 metres to extend the lead. He was instrumental in many of the Clifton attacks. Shortly before the break, a breakaway try by Tony Armstrong reduced the deficit to two points.
As the second half progressed, Clifton became more dominant with a solid defence and taking opportunities to score. Cozens added three penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking and tries were added by centre Zak Hamid and debutant full-back Alex Forrester.
Ultimately, it was Clifton who made few mistakes, maintained a solid defence and proved the fitter team on the day.
» An electric start helped put Leicester Lions on course for a 32-15 home victory over Dings Crusaders.
Lions put Dings under pressure from the start and wing Jake Sterland bagged a try, converted by
Ben Young. Lions reapplied the pressure and fly-half Young cut through the centre to score the second try, which he converted with only seven minutes gone.
Dings started to come back into the game and wing Ian Clark outpaced the Lions defence to go over for an unconverted try in the corner.
Lions reimposed their dominance and Devon Constant dashed down the wing before giving a smart slipped pass to Alex Wilcockson, who glided over.
Some careless play led to Lions giving away a penalty, and Dings fly-half Tom Price converted the three-pointer to make it 19-8 at half-time.
Dings started the second half by putting Lions under pressure with some solid forward mauls. In the 48th minute, Olly Bilton drove over
for a Dings try. Price converted to cut the gap to 19-15, but that was as good as it got for the visitors.
A quickly-taken penalty by Lions allowed Nick Cairns to weave
through for a try. Sterland quickly added his second try when he outran the defence. Jack Vernum added a penalty late on to seal the deal for Lions.