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Saints cruising - Oxford 41 Nottingham 13
The Oxford Saints eased their way to a third straight victory on the back of a scintillating performance from Kyle Micallef. Micallef dazzled his way to a hatrick of touchdowns as the Saints crushed the Nottingham Ceasars 41 to 13 at the Harvey Hadden Stadium, Notts.
The Saints made the journey to Nottingham missing a number of key players but with a determination to put in a hot performance to match Sunday’s blistering temperatures.
The 1st quarter started slowly with both teams adjusting to the heat and exchanging possessions. Oxford’s ‘Pain Gang’ defence were the first to put a marker down. Richard Carr and Chris Ellis combined to sack the Ceaser’s QB for a big loss, bringing up 3rd & long for the ‘C’ inside their own half. Nottingham went to the air on 3rd down & Saints LB Ben Tolley leapt high in the air to intercept the pass & take off down the sidelines towards paydirt, Tolley was tripped up just short of the end zone after a 28 yard return.
The Saints Offence took to the field and needed no 2nd invitation to ram home the first score. Behind a rejuvenated O line RB Chris Taylor took the handoff from QB & brother Jay Taylor & smashed thru the Ceases defence for the thouch down from 5 yards out, Johnny Dover kicked the PAT, Oxford up 7 – 0.
The 2nd quarter was the Kyle Micallef show. With the Caesars O having no joy against the Saints brutal defence, the big ‘C’ was forced to punt on the opening drive of the 2nd quarter.
Starting deep in their own territory the Saints O started to find their rhythm and move down the field. A couple of bruising runs from Chris Taylor & a short pass from J.Taylor to James Burchell took the Saints out to their own 44 yard line. With a 1st down nearing Ceases territory, Taylor dropped back to pass to find a wide open Micallef. The Oxford new boy jinked & dazzled his way to an electrifying 56 yard catch & run into the end zone for his first score as a Saint, Dover slotted the PAT, Oxford up 14 – 0.
A good kick off for Oxford saw the Caesars pinned deep in their own half. Again the Caesars could do nothing against a swarming Oxford defence tuning the heat up on the field to now near boiling point. The Caesars were forced to punt & a good punt saw the Saints return man field it deep in his own half. The bad news for Nottingham was that it was that man Micallef who caught the punt. Micallef took off & after a couple of big blocks the Maltese flyer eluded the first couple of would be tacklers then switched the turbo button on & blazed his way straight thru the Caesars punt coverage team for a spectacular 72 yard touchdown, Dover kicked the PAT, Oxford up 21 – 0.
With time running out in the half, the Caesars needed to move the ball quickly & again tried their luck in the air. Again the Saints D stood firm & Ben Trolley picked up his second interception of the day to set up the Saints at midfield. The Saints O was now moving up thru the gears. Chris Taylor ripped off a 14 yard run, followed by 20 yard pass from J.Taylor to Sam Armstrong. Another good run from C.Taylor took the ball to the 6 yard line of the Caesars. Chris Taylor capped off an impressive drive with a 6 yard burst into the end zone behind the blocking of Cribbes, Bryan & Ward-Best, Dover again slotted the PAT, Oxford led 28 – 0 at the interval.
The 3rd quarter saw the crowd inside the Harvey Hadden treated to more scoring. The Saints had the ball first & a Saints fumble saw the first break of the game for the Caesars. The Ceases O took the ball in great field position inside the Saints 20 yard line. A couple of penalties on the Saints D saw Nottingham taken down to the Saints 2 yard line. From their the Caesars powered into the end zone, ex Oxford boy Simon Dale took it in for the ‘C’, Johnson kicked the PAT to make the score 28 – 7 & give Nottingham faint hopes of a comeback.
All come back hopes were put to bed on the next possession for Oxford with the Saints O continuing to dominate their opponents. Jay Taylor again hooked up with Armstrong & then new boy Elliot Howes for some good gains, followed by a good run from Burchall & another from C.Taylor to take the Saints inside the Ceases 10 yard line. Micallef took the handoff from Taylor & behind big blocks from Ken Snidder & Tom Beauchamp he sprinted then dived into the end zone for his 3rd score of the day to cap a sensational personal performance, Dover slotted the PAT, Oxford up 35 – 7.
With the game now done & dusted the Ceases had nothing to lose by airing it out. The Caesars moved into Saints territory with a couple of good runs from Dale. With Dale providing most of the Caesars good stuff they tried to get him open down the Saints sidelines. The pass was thrown towards Dale & from out of nowhere came Saints LB Marco Pinder who stepped in front of Dale to pick the pass off & gallop untouched into the Caesars end zone from 60 yards out to put the final nail in the Nottingham coffin. Pinder was penalised for celebrating his touch down and the PAT was taken 15 yards back as a result, Dover missed the PAT, Oxford up 41 – 7.
The game entered the 4th quarter & with the game over as a contest the Saints emptied their bench to give the rookies some much needed game time. A couple of good plays from the Nottingham defence followed by an interception of Saints back up QB Alex Spurling saw the Caesars in good field position.
A pass interference call in the end zone against the Saints saw the Caesars on the Saints 3 yard line. Simon Dale sliced into the end zone for a consolation score for Nottingham, Johnson missed the PAT, Saints up 41 – 13.
With the Saints 2nd string offence finding the going a bit harder, the ‘C’ had a couple of chances late in the game. However Scott Tolley forced a fumble which Ali Galbraith recovered to end one possession. Then a scintillating interception & 62 yard return from Johnny Dover almost see him score another for Oxford.
Jay Taylor came back on for Oxford to effectively run the clock out & give Oxford their 3rd straight victory and a fantastic start to their BAFA CL Div 1 campaign.
The Saints next home game is at home to the Birmingham Bulls this Sunday at Abingdon Rugby club, K.O 4pm.
Published: 25-05-2010 by Andrew Day