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2s hold out in a tight squeeze |
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Posted on Monday, November 30 @ 19:48:22 GMT by jacksonc |
 Old Pauline 2nd XV 13 vs Battersea Ironsides 2nd XV 10
Saturday 28th November 2009
Merit League Conference 1
Match Report by Paddy King
It had been three weeks since OP 2s last had a merit game, during which time England had done their best to propel themselves down the IRB rankings, Dubai had fallen to its knees and Jedward’s X Factor dreams had gone the way of Stephen Gately. So it was up to Jonno’s merry band of men to lift the world’s spirits with some Asti Spumante rugby on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon.
From the off the two sides showed proficiency in different areas. Ironsides exposed OPs under-powered scrum, which was struggling after losing our ever-hungover Sony customer services specialist to the 1s; yet Big Rob and centre-cum-lock Ben (both recently welcomed back from injuries) were dominating the lineout and denying Ironsides any level of clean ball. In the backs, Ironsides had a 10 who, much to OPs surprise, eschewed his evidently strong running game and preferred to kick aimlessly giving plenty of counter-attacking opportunities to OPs speedy back three. Maybe he’d been watching England play too much.
And thus it was that Tiny maintained his joint lead of the club’s try scoring table (after a few barren weeks), and Hawkeye continued to make up ground after missing the early season to cricket, girlfriend, injury or something like that. In between, OPs maintained their unfortunate and unwanted record of conceding tries within minutes of scoring, this time after Ironsides worked the ball to a three on two on the left wing. It could, and possibly should, have been more had Jonno’s pass gone to Carrsy’s hands after Hawkeye’s clean break. Or if Ginge had made touch in the corner.
But with both sides having tries held up over the line, 10-5 at half-time was a fair reflection of the game. And with the scrum shored up by Ricky Ward’s late arrival (read the email, Ricky – meet time is not the same as kick off time), and Billyard adding more incisive running off the bench, OPs were looking to close the game out. A Shillaker penalty early in the second half from in front if the posts took the game two scores away from Ironsides.
However, as the Bard of Ayrshire said: ‘the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley’. In quick succession, OPs lost the influential Sav to a recurrence of his shoulder injury, NFL took a breather for some injury or another, and then James Brayshaw went for an early bath for what can only be described as an ‘over-exuberant fly-hack’. The last 20 was going to prove a tougher task than picking a looker in the England Women’s Rugby team. Fortunately, the lineout continued to dominate, restricting Ironsides to tapping and going from penalties, and the defence was awesome. At one point, Ironsides went through 8 phases of play and conceded 10 yards. Again, too much time spent watching England play.
In the end, the extra man in the scrum showed, and Ironsides went over for a push over try. It was harsh on OPs’ pack who had dominated in every area of forward play except the scrum. With one minute to go, Ironsides were 3 points behind and with the bit between their teeth. Scrambled phase play brought them into OPs’ half, but eventually they ran out of steam and were bundled into touch, much to OPs’ relief. If for no other reason than it was almost pitch black – the game having been delayed because Ironsides had forgotten their kit.
A win is a win, and there are plenty of positives to take from the game – notably the lineout, solid and committed defence all over the park and clinical finishing out wide. One down, two to go in our own Autumn Internationals of three merit games on the trot – next up at Fortress TD: Old Freemens.
MOM: Ben – great lineout work, and some McCaw-esque breakdown work.
COM: Brayshaw – no need to go into any more detail.
Team: Hawkeye, Tiny, Shills, Ginge, Carrsy (Billyard), Fat Controller, Dirty Sanchez, Smithy, NFL, Tim, Big Rob, Ben, James B (Ricky), Sav, Paddy
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