RUGBY UNION: Boar Stoop to conquer

4:28pm Monday 7th April 2008

Comments (3)   Have your say »

Oxford 8, Blue Boar 27

Blue Boar roared to victory in the Oxfordshire Shield with a dominant second-half display orchestrated by their impressive fly half Sam Stoop.

Boar's first county success may appear something of an upset, but it was their ninth victory in nine matches this season.

Captain James Brufell lost the toss, but revealed Oxford had played into their hands by opting to have the wind behind them in the first half.

Oxford dominated the opening quarter, but lacked a real cutting edge.

They had plenty of opportunities as Stoop and full back Chris Sandbach struggled to clear the ball for Boar.

A mixture of determined defence and poor execution left the game scoreless, while Boar took 19 minutes to mount a decent attack.

Wings Charlie Young and Sam Cover had their moments, but it was Oxford who took the lead on 27 minutes.

Full back Graham Crapper and Longuet-Higgins combined well and centre Tom Olley was on hand to finish the move.

Unfortunately for Oxford, they were penalised from the restart and Boar levelled with flanker Barney Harrison peeling over from the lineout.

Boar couldn't make further inroads and saw Olley kick a stoppage-time penalty, but trailing just 8-5, they were well-placed at half-time.

The second half had barely started when Cover touched down Sandbach's excellent grubber kick.

Boar's greater skill level in the backs was starting to show and their third try came on 53 minutes when scrum half George Sykes latched on to a fine break from hooker Jamie Orpwood.

Stoop still couldn't land a conversion, but he more than made up for this with a superbly-executed score after 62 minutes.

Centre Ben Nicholl's off-load was assured and so was Stoop's finish before he added the conversion.

Oxford had run out of ideas by now and failed to capitalise on several penalties.

Sykes had another decent break for Boar, but the ball was turned over.

Nicholl had the final say, powering over for a deserved try that capped their comeback.

Had Oxford taken their early chances it could have been different, but Boar proved they are more than just a pub side.

Oxford: Crapper, Hartley, Olley, Walker, Longuet-Higgins (Waknell 58), Hill, Derrick (Byles 64), Walter (Molyneux 40), Rudman, Mitchell, Mason, Viner (capt), Soetters (Knox 40), Knapp, McDonald (Samsworth 80).

Blue Boar: Sandbach, Young, Brufell (capt), Nicholl, Cover (Shepherd 79), Stoop, Sykes, Lay (Dixey 50), Orpwood (Wallbridge 72), Paul, Pearson, Cox (Vaughan-Fowler 40), Alder, Harrison (Barnes 45-50 & 58), Weaving.

Referee: A Graham (Oxon).

Man-of-the-match: Stoop.