Old Tiffinian 22 bt Old Whitgiftian 20

With Christmas approaching, the Old Whitgiftians gifted their opposition the points in a tight Surrey Division One encounter at the Grist Memorial Ground on Saturday.

Whitgiftians got off to a cracking start with a Gordon Coletta penalty but this was reversed when Tiffinians took a tap penalty and sloppy defence allowed prop Andrew Sutherland to drive over.

Breaks by Richard Kiddell and Gordon Coletta showed opportunities were available and when Coletta was obstructed, three points were gratefully accepted.

As half-time approached, Ollie Edwards made a telling break and fullback Paul Hobden beat three defenders to ground the ball.

Then Santa arrived for Tiffs.

Whitgiftians threw a loose pass which Gary Grealish intercepted, leaving himself a clear run to score under the posts.

Worse was to come for OWs when Andreas Dracoulis at scrum-half somehow lost the ball.

A slick feed to Tiffinians' speedy winger left the attacking OWs flat footed and fullback John Edwards went over under the posts.

But from another clean lineout the Whitgift pack took charge and drove Tiffins back, allowing Will Coker to touch down for the try.

OWs almost snatched a victory in the closing minutes when Ben Wiseman forced his way over the line but was held up by the Old Tiffinian defence.

While the match was a close affair, OW's will kick themselves for losing and are now under pressure to earn points from their next two league matches.

December 5, 2001 14:00