St Albans Centurions

After a hugely successful campaign with the Cents failing to win in only 1 outing this season the final league table speaks volumes with the Centurions top of the pile with an overwhelming points difference.

With the play-offs now to look forward to, the Cents will be looking to continue the impressive season form into the following games.

West London Sharks 4 -V- 16 St Albans Centurions

The Centurions travelled to Isleworth in West London to take on the reigning champions West London Sharks.

The game kicked off in heavy rain and both teams took time to adjust and both teams made basic mistakes. The game was 20 minutes old when West London gave away a penalty for obstruction in their own 30 metres. From the tap penalty stand off Matt O' Rourke found a gap in the Sharks defence and open the scoring. David Kramer converted. The next 10 minutes the Sharks put the Cents defence under pressure but they held out. From a scrum on the Cents 10 metres winger Ollie Fountain took an inside pass from Adam Kal and he out paced the Sharks defence running 70 metres score. On the half time whistle the Saint
defence was breeched when centre Duffy went over in the corner.

The second half was which team would break the defensive lines. The second half seemed to go in 10 minute periods. First the Sharks would try then the Cents would try to break the defensive line. With 4 minute left on the clock the Cents made sure of victory when Ollie Fountain went through a tied Sharks defence to score and David Kramer converted.

This Saturday the Centurions take on Eastern Rhinos at Cotlandswick kick off 2.30pm winners go into the Southern Premier Final to play the winners of Hammersmith or West London

St Albans Centurions 86 -V- 10 London Scholars

Cents took to the field with 14 players absent. This gave a chance for certain fringe players to push for a play off spot. The Centurions also gave debut to 2 South African players.

The Rugby League Masters bandwagon rolled into St Albans in Sunday when Medway Dragons took on St Albans Masters at Cotlandswick. This was the first time this variant of the sport had been played in St Albans and because to the low impact nature of the game it attracted many players who had never played rugby league before and liked the idea a game suited for over 35s, with limited competitive edge. The day started with St Albans Centurions hosting a barbeque as a thanks you for all their junior volunteers and it was great to see these guys stick around to watch the old boys play.

St Albans Masters were guided round the park by Shane Rampling and was well supported by Ken Edwards and Shane Hodges, but despite a spited effort the home side couldn’t stop a well drilled Medway side who ran in some excellent tries. Graham Clarke scored a brace for St Albans. The spirit of the game was summed up when after an unplanned big collision in the tackle involving two props, both players got up and immediately shook hands !

Photo Gallery

South London Storm 6 -V- 60 St Albans Centurions

The kick off was put back to 3pm due to heavy traffic on the M25 so the Cents did not get their normal warm up. This showed in the first 10 minutes when the Storm peppered the Cents line but some defiant defending kept them out. Then on the 10th minute from a tap on the Cents 20 metre line the forwards made excellent metres with 3 drives. Then quick hands down the line put centre Aaron Brown through the gap and David Kramer converted to get the scoreboard moving. The game became stale with both teams making basic errors. Then on the 30th minute the Cents were awarded a penalty for offside and from the tap Joe Shaw broke the Storms defence and his fellow forward Adam Kambouris was on his shoulder and he finished the move with a try. Straight from the kick off centre Rudie van der Merwe made 25 metres and a quick play the ball David Kramer broke the defence to race over to score. On the half time whistle the Storm finally broke the Cents defence and scored a try which was converted. 14 – 6 to Cents at half time.