Argaum march on in Lockie Cup

Despite a much depleted squad with 7 of last weeks starting XV unavailable, Argaum arrived at Stonehouse Creek full of confidence for this first round tie. Much of last weeks pack were out, but this gave assistant coach Ben Stanbury the chance to review a fistful of fringe players whilst Head Coach Dave Sansom stayed at home with the Wanderers. Notable inclusions were Mike McCormick, Matt Cardell and Ryan Phillips having recently impressed for the seconds.
The match started well, in sunny conditions. Exciting rugby looked on the cards as Old Boys looked to get the ball out wide. With surprising pace, they almost scored in the first few minutes but for a certain try-saving tackle from the ever dependable Jake Turfrey at fullback. As the game settled, it was after 14 minutes that Tom Richards profited from some good handling in the backs to go over. He converted, and Argaum were off... The second score was out of the blue, after a gazelle like run through the middle of the park by The returning Bennett, subsequent offload to Isaac Honey got the chiefs to within inches of the line. With a plethora of green shirts queuing up to walk over the line, Ryan Phillips was the lucky recipient of a ball that was very nearly knocked on. From here, for the second week on the bounce Argaum seemed to be on the receiving end of numerous off-the-ball incidents and late tackles. I would expect that the old boys' nine would have been much more influential if his main concern wasn't his opposition but concentrated on the game. Ever improving Ben Glanfield relished in the challenge and stealing ball at his feet made his opposite number look quite foolish and simply mediocre. After the break and with the home teams openside taking ten for repeated late hits Argaum continued to dominate. Steady scrummaging allowed good clean ball from Glanfield through the hands for Bennett to go over. It was a shame that immediately after the restart a penalty was conceded in front of the posts and Buckley slotted for DHSOB. The last 20 minutes became scrappy in more ways than one, with both teams lineouts becoming poor. And an altercation on the 22 saw both teams wade in to try and calm things down. Try as they might, Old boys were unable to breech the Chiefs line, with the impenetrable Isaac Honey on the right wing putting big hits in where it counted. Dan Smith was a constant thorn at the breakdown, and the menacing wing-forwards Jamie Venner and Dan James closing everything down.