OEs remain perfect after early Irish flutter

AN IMPRESSIVE secondhalf performance preserved Old Elthamians’ unbeaten start to the season, but they made hard work of this victory against a Wild Geese side who dominated the early exchanges.

The Irish knocked the home side out of their stride early on and they raced into a deserved 10-0 lead after 15 minutes thanks to a try from Sean Cunningham and Peter Hodgkinson’s penalty.

OEs replied with a Tom White penalty and a converted close range try from prop Aston Bevans-Royston on 33 minutes, but it was only a brief respite as the Irish retook the lead when wing George Owen fed Dan Grant-Adamson for a well-worked try.

However, they lost prop Eddie Fraher and full-back Ben Kitching to the sin bin in the space of ten minutes

and OEs took advantage, prop Lewis Brown levelling the scores at half-time.

OEs were a side transformed after the break. Dominating the set piece, the spent the majority of the second half camped deep in Irish territory.

Replacement scrum-half Ollie Claxton sparked a three-try burst in the space of ten minutes, his blindside break setting up a try for wing Dom Lespierre.

Further tries from White, after a strong forwards drive, and prop Aaron Liffchak after a superb off-load from Max Wilkins, secured the fivepoint victory.