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2008/09 Match Reports13th
December Thanks to Rad and JC for turning up at such short notice, and as usual thanks to all who say they are going to turn up and do! That rules Alex out then!!! Special thanks this week must go to Goff and Jack who stood in the freezing rain to watch us once again put a big W on the board against an Orpington side who had more than the one first team player they claimed to have on show. This weeks win was made all the more special in the manner we went about doing the job. The forwards after getting a bit of a wake up call in the first scrum got their act together and on a regular basis took ball from the opposition feed. Disrupted the line out at every opportunity and even when the call for a four ball was called more often than not landed the throw in the swirling wind. The backs as usual went about taking the opposition apart from the off and didn't relent until the final whistle. We finished the game, a whole 14 minutes, with 13 men on the field (12 if you can count the last 30 seconds without Mike Ruiz). Steve Twigger would have been a proud Coach had he seen the way we implemented the rucking training that he has put us through the last few weeks, as we ground out the last 15 minutes by just taking the Ball into contact and recycling it to do the exact same thing again. We managed to lose possession only 3 times during this period but each time managed to get it back and take it back to the beleaguered Orpington players. Despite the awful weather and the shoddy way we turned up late and unprepared we have ground out another fine victory that keeps us nicely placed third in the league before the Christmas break. So here's looking forward to the 9 league games we have left next year and lets see if we can improve our position in the league by one or two places! SEMTEX
15th November After a week of trying to get a team on the pitch, the never say die attitude returned with a vengeance and 18 players made themselves available. Thanks to Chris Ansah and Alex Lowth for showing up and playing for the first time this season, but special thanks to a secret player who can't be named in case his wife reads the match report. Lets call him Dr Freddie, she'll never guess! The day started as expected no real warm up because the kit was in Croydon and the team were in Lower Sydenham! When we set a meet lets meet at that time, all this I'll be at the pitch dressed ready is not good enough. This isn't a personal attack on anyone because three people did it on Saturday. On to the match thanks to Nick for turning up and playing hooker for us, cheers to Rufus for convincing him to play. Some great play in the first half that left us changing ends in the lead was completely undone in the second half where we as a team decided we had done enough and that allowed Beckenham to get up a head of steam we could not quite extinguish. We were bossing the set pieces right up until Les had to leave the field injured again, its always the fit athletic types who pick up these injuries! And with no fit front row available we went to uncontested scrums. This should not have had the effect that it did because our backs were still causing problems and the forwards were nicking line out at will. But as is our Achilles heel, we sniffed victory far too quickly and went to sleep. If it wasn't for some great tackling in the backs and the forwards, who had to change formation numerous times due to blood replacements and injuries to Peter Ward, Les Giblin and Alex Lowth. That said we have been putting into practice what is being preached at training, at no point did anybody pick up from the base of a ruck and leave themselves isolated. It was always calmly dealt with, either by a sympathetic pass or grabbing a team mate and taking it to the oppo. What we do need to work on in training what decision to make when the opposition are raining in on top of you. Again this isn't directed at anyone in particular, but we kicked away two tries to Beckenham on Saturday that they would never have got if we ran it straight back at them. A lovely try by Martin Smith who pinned his ears back and left half the Beckenham team in his wake to score under the posts, so it was easier for Luke to score the conversion. And two tries from Paul Harper and stand in scrummie Richard Bunton should have been enough to give us the spoils, but wasn't. So lets gather again the next two Tuesdays and put it right against Old Dartfordians on 29th November. See you all at training SEMTEX
8th November: Askeans cried-off
1st November: RBSRFC 29 - 24 Park House FC 3rd XV Tries: Luke Grose, Jack Marshall & Martin Smith (2) Cons: Chris Dickinson (3) & Penalty After struggling all week to find a hooker we finally took to the field at Park House with a squad of 18, Sam Ross-Wilden stepping in at the last minute to play hooker. Sam not only stepped up and made sure we had a front row, but in my opinion played the best 80 minutes of rugby for RBS since he joined us, and that is not just blowing smoke up him to see if he'll play next week. Before we even had the toss taken, I was asked by two of their players if it was true that we had beaten Southwark Lancers? The answer to that as we all know was YES! and as of Saturday morning Park House were third in the table, literally making us the team to beat these days. Now I know we all have a laugh about it in the bar and long may it continue, but the only way we are going to stay where we are and get anything out of this season is TRAINING. So please come on Tuesdays and try to do a little bit extra yourselves and who knows where we might be in the League this coming March. As is becoming the norm for us now we took the lead and didn't give it up all game. That is not to say we had it all our own way, far from it, Park House had a big say in how the day went and but for some strange refereeing decisions could have taken the points. They had a try disallowed for their man stepping in to touch in the dead ball area, even though the ref was some way off. That said we had some decisions go against us, none more so than the try awarded against us when the Park House player dropped the ball over the line, just like Phil Black last week, but claimed he couldn't see it because of the position he was in. But was able to disallow Mike Ruiz a try claiming it was held up despite being in almost the exact same position!!!! With the wet weather it was always going to be a day for scrummaging, and as with most of our previous games we moved the opposition pack around all day. If their two props spent more time actually scrummaging and not trying to slip their bindings every time the ref changed sides they would probably have had a better time of it. But they would not be told and as a consequence they lost balls against the head on a regular basis, the most telling being a put in on their own 5m line that was nicked for the umpteenth time by Sam and a pushover that was touched down by Jack Marshall rounded of their poor day. Tries also from Luke, and the by now familiar brace from Martin would have seen of lesser sides. But Park House were in no mood to lay down and let us walk away with it, and kept up the pressure right to the very end. A very different side to the ones we have been put out in previous seasons soaked up this pressure and held on for another well deserved win. All praise must go to everyone around me on this day as the effort was 100% going forward and (no cliches) even better in defence, it seems we have finally got the taste of victory after gorging on defeat for so long. So once again thank you to everyone who played on Saturday, even Richard (4 minutes) Bunton. And apologies to you all for having to carry me for 80 minutes, I don't need telling that was probably the worst game I have had for RBS in years. Maybe I need to follow my own advice. See you all Tuesday. SEMTEX
25th
October: Once again a strong squad to choose from, despite four people crying off from Friday - Saturday. But my life is getting easier as I still had 18 players to choose from, thank you all who did turn up and sorry to Andy for not getting him a lot of playing time. On to the game, a few people had been scare mongering by reading Lancers website and looking at their league position, first with 3 wins from 3. But when put into context it was two wins over Beckenham Vs, Dartfordians IVs and a two score victory over Orpington who we beat ourselves not 6 months ago. We set ourselves up nicely with two unanswered converted tries, thanks to Luke and Paul, in an evenly contested first half. A half which was to end 7 minutes early due to a severe clash of heads leaving Les laying on the ground with pins and needles around the neck and shoulder area. With a twenty minute delay while we waited for an ambulance to get Les to hospital, where thankfully he was given the all clear later that night, we let our minds drift and our bodies go cold. So when we finally started the second half Southwark seized their opportunity and ran in two relatively soft tries given the way we were playing up to that point. As they only converted one of their chances we kicked off two points to the good, and with a change of personnel in the pack started to take the game back to Southwark. As with most of the afternoon we continued to take a lot of ball from them at their own set pieces in the scrum and line out which led to our backs having wave after wave of attack, but credit where credit is due Southwark held us up and refused to lay down. That was until some great hands led to Phil Black to break free and make a lunge for the line only to drop the ball. The resulting scrum led to a stolen ball and a push over try. Imagine my surprise when after passing the white wash and waiting to see Richard Bunton who was having a steady game at number 8 appear and ground the ball it was Mark Jelinek who managed to steal a march on him at flanker and take the points on offer. Another injury this time to Dan "my ankle again" Mahoney, led to another enforced change with Moses entering the fray and getting to grips with the pace of the game almost straight away with a couple of good runs and more importantly some nice covering tackles. Still Southwark pressed and some great defending from ourselves this time led to us not only keeping them out but also putting together one final effort and scoring, courtesy of Martin, in the dying seconds of a game that seemed to get longer every time someone asked the ref "How long Sir? When the final whistle did come it bought an end to Southwark Lancers unbeaten start to the season and left some of the older players among us to look around and bask in the glory given to us by a set of younger, fitter players who if we had got our hands on a couple of seasons ago we would not have found ourselves in the position we have been in in recent seasons. So once again a big thanks to all who turned up, continue to keep training going and force the non-attendees to fight for their place on a Saturday. SEMTEX PS Paul Harper has asked me to point out that the scoring pie is not a true reflection of who has scored the most tries, as Chris Dickinson has gained points by taking conversions and penalties. Point taken but it is a scoring pie and not a try scoring pie, so pipe down. As everyone knows Phil will be top try scorer, I know this because he tells me he has been every years since he has been with the club! 11 October 2008 RBSRFC 24 - 8 Old Elthamians We started the day on paper in the usual way with 17 players, but started the match with 15! Do not call me on Friday, (or any other day) and say you are available and then not show on the Saturday. Add to that not to have the decency to call and explain why you didn't show, Chris Ansah! Wardy did get dragged out oh his flat by the fire brigade so we will let him off, yes he is ok! We started the game in much the same way we finished last weeks, disrupting line out and winning more than our fair share of all the rucks and mauls. This led to us taking a well deserved lead through Odie, who scored under the posts. (Missed con. O'Sullivan)!!!!! We didn't keep the lead for very long and some very poor tackling let OEs score the equaliser in less than 5 mins. We kept taking the game to them with some good work from the pack who didn't let OEs get a sniff of any thing in the first 40. Getting some good fast, clean ball to the backs allowed them to open up OEs defence on numerous occasions, only for us to run out of width and not re-cycle the ball back in field. (A training session in the making!) The second half was a different story with the backs stepping up their game and the forwards allowing themselves to take their collective feet off of the gas. This led to RBS scoring a further 3 unanswered tries, through Paul Harper (2) Chris (fly half), and OEs only getting a penalty for their troubles. Despite the scoreline we did not have it all our own way in the second half OEs kept on pushing and some good defending by ourselves and some strong scrummaging on our own 5m line kept them tryless for the second half. It is to OEs credit we had to defend our lines so feverishly in the dying minutes, and although credit has to go to the pack for keeping them out, it was our own fault for not getting around the park and keeping them out of our 22 that led to the late surge of pressure inflicted on us. That said there was some very good positives to come out of it. A fine debut by Luke Grose who was unlucky not to score on several occasions, mainly due to some strong tackling from OE defence and on one occasion due to a wayward pass from the otherwise exemplary Paul Harper. Chris again had another storming game at 10 linking up well with rest of the backs. Thanks must go to Steff and Odie for turning out for us again, without them we would not have been able to field a side. Also thanks to all who stuck around from John Cass FOCR and was entertained with a great win for RBS, who seem to have got the bit between their teeth again like the last few games of last season. Long may it continue SEMTEX 4 October 2008 Old Alleynians IVs 24 - 31 RBSRFC What a week, first we start with a squad of 18 again! Then it goes down hill, Rufus cries off with joggers nipple or some other pain in his chest. Matt Phillips is killed in a car crash, but rises from the dead like Lazuras, only to get a stiff neck and can't move his head. And Alex Lowth was vapourised by aliens, this is just a theory as he hasn't answered his mobile or e-mails since Saturday, but if he hasn't been why wouldn't he answer his calls, SPOOKY! So we take off to Old Alleynians where once again we are told the opposition do not have a front row, or more likely their front row see ours and don't really fancy it... We kick off 15 V 16 (I'll explain later) un-contested scrums. We nick a good 70% of their line-out and are having the better of the forwards and backs around the park but can't seem to put any real daylight between them and us. Twiggs opens the scoring for us, even though it does look like Tim Dunford had his hand on the ball as it was grounded. The try came from some good line-out work with a catch and drive from just outside the 5m line which try as she might the ref didn't want to give but in the end relented. It was from then on that all decisions went OAs way, including some outrageous rolling mall decisions she got wrong, to the most blatant piece of cheating I have seen on a rugby pitch since Neil Back made Peter Stringer look like a school boy No. 9 all those years ago. Even the members of OAs were embarrassed for the way the ball that was propelled forward in a way that would have befitted an American football game, and the ref had the cheek to call it level. When members of OAs told her it was forward she reluctantly called play back and awarded us the scrum. In between all this Chris, Phil, Wardy and Sam (oops nearly dropped it, oops nearly dropped it again) Ross-Wilden all crossed the whitewash to leave us getting a result we shouldn't have been in any worry of losing. Had we had contested scrums it would be debatable if OAs would have even got on the scoreboard. It was only some slack play from the back of static scrums and some poor covering tackles out wide that allowed OAs to get their scores, but it is something we can work on at training!!!!! So thank you to all who turned up to play, thanks to the ever present John Cass on the touchline. Hopefully all of you who are carded in the future are shamed into turning up or at least having the decency to call me (not you Rufus), but I will not hold my breath. SEMTEX 27 September 2008 Old Dunstonians 25 V 13 RBSRFC For a change we were the Squad, 18 of us! who were on the pitch first, warmed up and eager to go. Then the referee informed us that Old Dunstonians only had 13, and no front row, and that it looked like we would get a walkover for the first game of the season, but would we stay and give them a game. It was agreed that we would give them a game and we changed our squad around, a luxury we never had in recent seasons, due to the fact we would have uncontested scrums. Then the ref informs us that not only do ODs now have 15 but they also have a front row, game on! Some poor decision making from positions all over the park, not to mention my own kick being blocked on the 5m line by someone who looked blatantly offside and converted into a try by the same person, saw us 12 nil down very quickly. But like the latter end of last season we battled back and got two very well worked tries by our centre pairing of Paul Harper and Phil Black. Add to that a penalty by myself and we looked good at the break at 13-12. The second half led to some more poor decision making, that had a knock on to some poor tackling and in turn led to ODs running in 3 more, this time unanswered tries. Only some poor handling stopped us scoring more tries of our own and some poor tackling at the lineout let them get at least on of their second half tries. There was some great rugby played at times followed by some less than impressive stuff that we have been known to provide for our long suffering support. Thanks to Paul Harper for once again getting us out of a hole with the aid of his never ending supply of friends who play in the backs. Thanks to Les and John who led vocal support for us on the side lines. Thanks to Wedders for postponing retirement for the fifth year in a row and also to Twiggs for the same in at least the last 10 years! And finally thanks to Dan Stokoe, Peter Ward and Peter Young who when informed of the uncontested rule thought they were starting, only to be told 10 minutes later that they were to be on the bench, thanks for the supply of water and in giving your all when asked to step into the fray. Please lets try and get down to training on a Tuesday and blow away some of the cobwebs that seem to be sticking to the back of our shirts from last year, and try to get a bit of a run going starting next week to Old Alleynians Regards SEMTEX
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