AN injury-time penalty by Lewis Stuart secured Saltash II a 27-26 victory in a controversial Ellis Trophy quarter-final clash with Old Techs at Horsham Fields on Wednesday evening.
The referee became the centre of attention on the night as he awarded penalty after penalty and produced seven yellow cards and two red.
It was not a dirty game, and it was a good clash between two evenly matched sides which would have been worthy of the final. It was just a shame it wasn’t played in daylight or under better floodlights and that the contest had not gone to uncontested scrums in the first half.
Techs were totally dominating the set-piece, but their main weapon was taken away when replacement prop Mitch Mitchell was yellow carded and later sent off for picking up another yellow card.
With no additional front-row cover, Saltash went to uncontested scrums, but initially the referee did not make them remove another player. At the time they were already down to 13 and so should have gone to 12, but they didn’t and to rub salt into Techs’ wounds they scored from an uncontested scrum on the halfway line.
In the second half, the referee did make Saltash forfeit another player for going to uncontested scrums, but with strong runners in their side like Fin Jones, Devon Bennett-Murray, Lewis Woolaway and Sam Snell, they were able to attack well from the unchallenged set-piece.
In front of a decent-sized crowd, which included some vocal supporters from host club Plymstock Oaks, Sammie Matts gave Techs the lead in the third minute with a penalty, but it was immediately cancelled out by one at the other end by Stuart.
Techs, with their set-piece working really well, then went 11-3 up. Matts kicked a penalty before Conor McQueen scored a try from a catch-and-drive move.
But Saltash responded quickly with a try by scrum-half Brett Jennison, which Stuart converted to make it 11-10.
Techs camped on Saltash’s line from the restart but could not add another try, however, on 30 minutes Matts did kick a penalty to edge his side four points ahead.
That was when prop Mitchell picked up his first yellow card, which ended up changing the game.
Two minutes later Bennett-Murray was also sin-binned leaving Saltash down to 13.
They then got a scrum on the halfway line and said they could not contest it having lost Colm Rich to a shoulder injury and them Mitch to the bin, but they were able to stay at 13 and Jones scored a brilliant try from the back of the uncontested set-piece on the halfway line. Stuart added the conversion to put his side 17-14 ahead.
Techs then had scrum-half Matts sin-binned and before half-time Mitchell had come back on and the scrums went back contested, but at the first one he was penalised again as Techs really put the pressure on and he was shown another yellow card and then a red.
Techs restored their lead at the start of the second half when former Ashes player Dale Thompson scored from a catch-and-drive move. Crucially, Matts’ conversion attempt hit the post and bounced the wrong way for his side.
But Old Techs looked to have taken command of the game when Dan Pullen scored a great try in the 61st minute when he brilliantly caught a Billy Evans cross-field kick and showed his pace to score. Matts converted to make it 26-17 to his side.
Stuart missed a penalty for Saltash but on 70 minutes the impressive Jones scored again with a strong run. Techs thought they had held him up on the line, but the referee awarded the try and Stuart added the simple conversion to make it a two-point game.
Then it went a bit mad with three yellow cards in the space of five minutes. Techs’ key player Ollie Davey was sin-binned as Techs drove before Snell picked a yellow up for Saltash.
Techs were then shown another yellow and at this point hardly anyone knew how many players were left on the field.
In injury-time, Saltash broke from a deep uncontested scrum in their own half and they got a penalty at the other end of the field that was then moved 10 metres closer by the referee.
Knowing that it might be the last play, Stuart opted for the posts from the left and he brilliantly put over the kick.
There was still time for one more play, but by this time, Techs were down to 12, like Saltash, after Evans was red carded, and they couldn’t snatch a late winner.
