Tarrant scores twice as Blacks stroll past OAs
A THIN squad once again haunted Old Albanians as they fell to a six-try hammering at the hands of Blackheath.
Too often it was apparent that OA’s could not muster a concerted attack, especially out wide, though nobody could fault the effort of their side – they were just outplayed.
Interestingly it all started rather well. Some early Albanian pressure forced Blackheath into enough mistakes to ensure fly-half Tom Bednall had two shots at goal, one successful.
The hosts were well on top and were monopolising possession and territory, yet the Blackheath defence held steady – and that failure to capitalise on early pressure proved costly.
There seemed no way through for the hosts, even though Blackheath lost four of their own lineouts and were penalised for not throwing straight at another.
It is a fact that if you gain a strong foothold in opposition territory it is imperative that you come away with points.
And with Old Albanians failing to do so, Blackheath gained confidence and inevitably struck before the break and again after in three-try bursts that took the game away from the spirited home side.
Alex Pickersgill crossed in the 33rd minute and was followed shortly after by the other wing, Jake Lloyd, and fly-half Joe Tarrant in a six-minute blitz.
The hosts were lucky Tarrant left his kicking
boots at home because he was successful just once out of what turned out to be five attempts.
There was a peculiar symmetry to each half as Old Albanians opened the second period scoring with another Bednall penalty.
But the pressure they continued to exert was not enough to trouble the visitors and they were hit hard late on.
Blackheath helped themselves to three more tries, as Tarrant crossed again, Harry Bate and Geoff Griffiths also scored. Bate’s try was the one converted.
If there is a positive to be gained for poor OA’s from this result it is that it could have been far worse. Defence, precision and forward aggression were better than of late. But there is much to do.