5th  XV match reports

London Scottish ExBs 18 – Hammersmith & Fulham III 0

Trys:  Simon Logan, Dougie Sampson

Cons: Matt Ferguson                                                               Pens:  Matt Ferguson x 2

Sin Bin: Kieran Tobin

Team: 1 Ermis Vestos, 2. Calum Button, 3.Douglas Primrose, 4. Ben Meldrum, 5. Barry Schuurmans, 6. Tom Atcheson, 7. Pete Stevenson, 8. Duncan Gillespie, 9. Gareth Hughes, 10. Matt Ferguson (c), 11. Jim Lynch, 12. Simon Logan, 13. Rob Ogden, 14. Ola Obaro, 15. Iain Findlay.

Replacements: Kieran Tobin, Dougie Sampson, Phill Clarke, Ben Edwards (not used)

This game was ruined (for me anyway) when the opposition turned up without a full front row but at least after a somewhat sluggish first half we did take the points.  The ExBs had one of their heaviest ever packs and, given that the front row in some form or other have already been involved in 3 or 4 pushover tries this season, were keen to try and see if they could put the visitors pack under a lot of pressure.  Unfortunately it was not to be (maybe they were remembering the squealing noises their hooker was making in the equivalent fixture last year).

Personally I am very much of the opinion that if you can’t field a front row then you can’t field a team and should forfeit the game.

The game started well with the Hammers winger who looked about 15 (but turned out to be rapid) fumbling a ball backwards in his own 22.  The ball was hacked through and touched down over the line for a 5 metre scrum to the visitors.  This would have been a perfect opportunity to try out their pack but uncontested scrums change the game completely and the Hammers were able to clear their lines with no pressure.

The rest of the first half followed very similar lines with the ExBs seeming to have the upper hand but every now and then knocking the ball on which allowed the visitors to clear their lines.  In addition to the frustration of not being well in the lead we lost Prof to a knee injury.  He assures me that he probably still won man of the match even with only 15 minutes on the pitch!  Not sure I agree.

The fact that the visitors spent a lot of time illegally throwing bodies over the ball did not help but in reality we should have dealt with matters ourselves and a lot more of them should have gone home with stud marks in their back.  The only scores of the first half came from Fergie's boot but a 6-0 lead at half time did not seem enough for the dominance we had.

At half time we decided to make a couple of subs which changed the game significantly in our favour.  Early on in the half the Hammers fullback was caught in 2 minds on his own line and stepped one way, jinked the other and was unceremoniously thrashed by Ola.  Dougie, newly on the pitch, was on hand to turn over the ball.  When the ball found the backs Fergie stepped inside, was held up just before the line but offloaded to Simon who crashed over near the posts.  Fergie converted.

Shortly afterwards Kieran was sent to the bin for fighting after finally someone decided to do something about the bodies lying over the ball and the visitors did not take too kindly to it.  As far as I was aware he didn’t even connect with his punch but important for us to maintain our record of having someone binned in every game this season.  Don’t worry lads I have a record for the end of season fines!!

There followed a period of ebb and flow but with the comfort of a 13-0 advantage and the fact that the visitors never really looked like scoring the game was already in the bag.  The game was killed off when Tom Atcheson picked up some loose ball on our 10 metre line and charged straight at the opposition.  The fact that it took 4 or 5 players to pull him down opened up some spaces for the ball to be carried on by Stance, Finders and then Pete who was stopped inches short.  The ever present Dougie was on his shoulder to pile over for a 5 pointer.

As for man of the match, it is quite a difficult one to call this week.  Pete as ever made a nuisance of himself for the whole game, Dougie turned the game in our favour when he came on (maybe that says more about my contribution on leaving the pitch!) and Tom had some great charges when he woke up in the second half plus forced their “prop” to leave the pitch after a huge hit clearing out the ruck.  However, I think my man of the match was centre Rob Ogden who put in some great tackles and looked dangerous in attack.

Roll on Park next week.

DP 05.11.07

Old Actonians II 31 – London Scottish ExBs 14

Trys:  Simon Logan, Tom Atcheson

Cons: Dave O’Brien x 2                                                             Pens: 

Sin Bin: Graeme Forbes

Team: 1 Ermis Vestos, 2. Graeme Forbes, 3.Douglas Primrose (c), 4. Phill Clarke, 5. Kieran Tobin, 6. Tim Footner, 7. Dougie Sampson, 8. Duncan Gillespie, 9. Dave O’Brien, 10. Ari Sua, 11. Matt (Old As), 12. Simon Logan, 13. Rob Ogden, 14. Ola Obaro, 15. Iain Findlay.

Replacements: Ben Edwards, Tom Atcheson, Bruce (Old As), Colin Walker

The ExBs had a belated start to the season on Saturday and rather embarrassingly had to borrow a couple of players from Old Actonians to field a full side – thanks to our hosts for that.  By the end of the day we were left thinking that a few pre-season friendlies might have had a positive effect after all as Old Actonians stretched away in the second half to win the game.

 Scottish started brightly with some excellent runs from Ermy, Logan and Forbes and some great ball retention in the forwards.  New recruit Dougie Sampson was at the forefront of virtually everything in the opening period gaining him a well-deserved man of the match award.

The Scots took a deserved advantage early in the game when Keiran "the Cockney Salmon" Tobin stole some Old As lineout ball on their 22.  It was fired quickly down the line for Ola to put Logan into space for the first score.  Dave converted.

For the remainder of the first period the Scots seemed to be on top both in the loose and at scrum time (although we were suffering somewhat from the lack of a recognised hooker at lineouts) but couldn't quite finish off the move.  To their credit Old As were quick to the breakdown and often moves finished with turnover ball being booted back down the pitch.  On several occasions, Old As obviously expecting a close game, had several unsuccessful kicks at goal.

It remained at 7-0 until the last move of the first half.  The Scottish front row tried to drive Old As off the ball on the half way line.  Unfortunately the turning scrum pulled the Scottish blindside out of the game leaving a gap which Old As exploited to finished the half at 7-all.  A very disappointing scoreline when most felt that we should already have put the game away by that stage.

The second half saw the welcome return of ex-captain Ben Edwards to the front row as well as Tom Atcheson (who struggles with email!) arriving to take his place in the centres.  Unfortunately Old As subs seemed to change their team for the better.  In particular the huge No 6 took a lot of stopping and seemed to lift the home side.  They went on to score 3 unanswered tries during a 20-minute period to effectively kill off the game.

When the Scots finally won some decent ball a bullocking run by Ari was stopped about 10 yards out only for the ball to be fired out to Iain who straightened before releasing Colin.  Colin's charge for the line was stopped as 3 Old As players took him out just before the line.

The Scots did wake up for the last 5 minutes and a back row move allowed Tom Atcheson to barge over under the posts.  Dave again converted.  However it was too little to late and the game finished 31-14 in favour of the home side.  The league continues next week away at Grasshoppers.