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OPs come out agains the Whits |
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Posted on Wednesday, February 25 @ 16:52:13 GMT by evsy |
 Old Pauline 14 – 9 Old Whitgifians
Surrey 1 League Match
Saturday 21st Feb 2009
Match Report by Squire Tim Radcliffe
It was the perfect day for rugby. The sun came out for the first time, as did Ali McGregor, and the supporters arrived in their droves. The old boys ate and drank heartily before the game and locals flocked to witness the hotly contested game of Old Paulines vs. Old Whitgiftians, the joint leaders of Surrey 1.
OP’s having slipped up against Old Freemen’s the week before, had to win this game to keep hold of their own promotion destiny. Old Whitgiftians knew this was a chance to put some clear distance between themselves and the rest of the league.
The game started at quite a tempo, with OP’s on the front foot and really applying the pressure. A few early line breaks showed that the Whitgiftian’s defence would be under much more scrutiny than they experienced in their home fixture. Michael ‘iron-hands’ Benson made a welcome return to the field and was soon tearing up the middle of the park like an unsophisticated Shaun Edwards. A pass out to the supporting winger, 2nd date Radders (who was in shock due to the fact that he did pass) and back inside to Rayner only just failed to result in a try. The pack looked hungry and put great pressure on their set pieces. Sure enough they could not hold out against a well constructed rolling maul and Random Roberts was credited with the try (seriously forwards, can you knick the ball off him next time!). Morris converted for a 7-0 lead. Rob Ferry had notably picked up a bum injury (standard) by this point and was making a right fuss. Ali McGregor also picked up a knock and looked similarly ridiculous. This is why no boom-boom before rugby!
Inevitably Whitgiftians started to push back and tried to hurt us around the fringes, no joy there. They tried to hurt us out wide, no joy there. They tried a to mix it up and be patient and just as before the defence held strong. However with all the possession the penalties inevitably came. They soon picked up 3 points.
A key moment was the loss of OW’s scrum-half, one of their better players unfortunately suffered a leg injury causing him to leave the field. Before the half was finished there was another break from Benson and another 2 on 1 oppurtunity, with Dinwiddy tearing up his inside in support. Benson passed it (that’s twice in a half) only for the full-back to quite clearly knock it on deliberately and prevent a certain try under the posts. However this was not the opinion of the man that counts (this is not Macca or Brandon by the way).
Leading 7-3 at half-time, OP’s knew this was going to be tough. The opening of the second half saw Eavsey pick and go like a panic stricken ferret and he scampered off up the pitch. N.B. he actually asked me to state that he is a more handsome version of Mike Philips however I could not help but notice that Eavsey is a small, placid, blonde Welshman and is more like a rotund Dwayne Peel….anyway, I digress. Having scampered away and one man to beat he pops it to Andy Reynolds who has 11 yards to get to the line, with no one in front of him. Andy is not known for his lack of pace but on this occasion he appeared to be running in quicksand. Unfortunately he did not make it and another opportunity went begging. All those extra press ups won’t speed you up, it’s extra squat thrusts you need.
More pressure absorbed by OP’s as Whitgiftians followed up each booming clearance with a good chase. Tim Morris cleared up at the back very efficiently and rounded a few of their players, like an elephant on skates, for good measure. The pack were relentless in their tenacity at the breakdown and dug deep to keep them at bay and despite a fantastic improvement in discipline in the second half, still conceded two kickable penalties to go behind 7-9.
More scything line breaks and numerous overlaps were wasted as the tension amongst the spectators grew. OP’s dug deep to eventually earn a hard earned penalty in front of the posts on the 22. Tim Morris, who one can’t deny has saved our skins on many occasions this season with invaluable goal kicking, pulled his kick and jaws dropped everywhere. Time was ticking.
With the Whitgiftians keeping us locked just inside our 22, it seemed a defeat was nigh. Eavsey gave it one more break, bursting up to near halfway. We soon worked the ball out to young substitute Toby Pheasant, yes there are 2, who ripped around his man and was just tackled short only to pop it to Si Hewitt (a rich-man's Andy Goode - balding, wears shirts that don't fit and everyone thinks he shouldn't be 10 but is surprisingly not bad). Si trotted over the line like a camp dog at crufts and the crowd went barmy. The conversion made by Somerset Pheasant and the referee blew time on a momentous win!!
That was a real squad effort and the support we got was terrific. We are now back in control of promotion hopes. All we need to do now is practice converting numerous chances!!
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