Good win against Bicester

A cold sunny day welcomed Bicester RFC to mayo road, and bearing in mind I didn't realise I was doing match report until 10 mins had been played (thanks Rhiannon for telling me), luckily it was a 10 mins to forget as Shippo didn't get going and found themselves 0-12 down to what looked like a well drilled much bigger set of lads. A quick rollicking from coaches kicked our boys into life and they started to hit their tackles and start to show Bicester they were here to play. 

Now showing some aggresion in the tackle and good handling soon had Shippo inside the Bicester 22 and with quick ball finding its way to Charlie Dews and with a barnstorming run dragging some Bicester players with him he went over for our 1st try, a difficult conversion by George H just missed. It was not long before our 2nd try arrived with yet more forceful running this time Ilyas storming through out wide to touch down to score, George H again going close with conversion but not quite close enough, the score now 10-12 to Bicester.

The next phase of the game was spent between both 22's with possession going from one team to the other via penalties or mistakes. What was a physical encounter was starting get very niggly, with half time approaching and more good territory from Shippo and nice little grubber kick from Zak C looked to have created a try under the posts but with the ref not sure on grounding it was only fair to give the defending team the benefit of doubt, this signalled half time with Bicester leading 10-12.

The second half started and again play stuck in the middle of pitch but Shippo started to dominate the game going from side to side showing some great moves learnt from the midweek training session with wasps players GOPPERTH and HAMPSON. Quick ball from scrum gave George V the chance to run strong and straight right through the heart of the Bicester line to touch down and give Shippo the lead, George H successfully getting conversion so score now 17-12 to Shippo. With the pack now in full control and giving good ball to the backs we soon had another try this time Henry M's quick feet getting him over the try line, conversion hitting upright and falling the wrong side of posts. Shippo were now leading 22-12 Bicester showed they would not roll over and came back at  Shippo , with tempers starting to heat up again, it may have been cold on the touchline but certainly not on the pitch. Bicester found themselves inside the Shippo 22 and looking dangerous a good turn over gave Sam L space to run the ball out towards half way and Shippo now back on the front foot, another mazy run from Sam L soon had our back line looking for more scores and Adam L wasn't going to be denied when he broke trough to score the final try which was converted. The final score was 

Shipston 29 Bicester 12 

Another solid performance ( forgetting first 10 mins ) from all involved, for me personally I thought Alex, Max and Devon looked very good but it has to be said this squad is going from strength to strength and a real joy to watch.