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Battersea Ironsides 4th XV 0 Dorking Ex A XV 38
The
table-topping Extra As were back on their travels this
week. This time it was to sunny (bloody freezing) Wandsworth
to take on the ever aggressive Battersea Ironsides. The
team looked strong on paper but that was only after Captain
Brinty spent most of his week begging people to play.
Returnees included Paul, Grandad Simon and Nozza who all
have been on Derelicts duty. We also welcomed back Clint
Janes and Toby after extended periods out of the game. The
front row was different again this week. Craigy and Bebo
Ian decided that it was time for some others to step up to
the plate (both were stood crippled on the sidelines) and so
Cazza and Farmer Dave stepped in at prop and Tubbs hooked
for this week. Other than that, it was the same core team
that can been seen week in, week out in the Extra As
The
opening exchanges were pretty even and the the ball spent a
lot of the first 10 minutes in the middle of the park. The
first points came after a the first of quite a few penalty
infringements by Battersea. Greggo called for the tee but,
of course, there wasn't one so Greggo went old school and
kicked straight from the deck for his first points this
season. A period of dominance by the Dorking pack then
followed with strong mauling and some hard hitting scrums.
The lads pressurised Battersea back into their own five and
at a try seemed to be on the way. The Dorking maul
was working well and before long, it fell over the line. To
be honest, it could have been scored by any one of 4 players
and all them celebrated as if was theirs so this try goes
down to the Dorking pack.
Red mist
then descended with Farmer Dave getting sent off after an
incident with the Battersea loose head. We won't go into the
details here but Dave was pretty disappointed when he left
the field as he was enjoying the contest. As a result of
this, Joolsy stepped in at loose head and Brinty moved
around the back row to cover. It's probably a good point to
mention that the front row had a bit of stormer after
this. With a bit of coaching from the 2 regular props during
water breaks, they arguably dominated the scrums even with 7
men.
There
were then 2 more penalties secured by Greggo, which both
came by Battersea going in off their feet and killing the
opportunity for quick ball. The rest of the half included 3
Bryan the Vet inspired tries. The first was after another
period of dominance by the Dorking pack. The ball was
handed along the backline to Bryan, who managed to ship the
ball to scorer Pete T under massive pressure from the
waiting Battersea defence. The next try was certainly
definitely not the Kiwi animal-lover's bread and butter
type, but he finished it well anyway. The backs all had a
pop at trying to finish a move but all seemed unable to.
Eventually Bryan managed to break through the line a to
score after breaking 2 tackles. The final try of the half
was a lot more Bryan like. He broke away from the Battersea
10 and scored under the posts. Greggo converted and it was
31-0 at half time. An unbelievable score considering we only
had 14 men for most of the half.
The
second half was a close affair with the pressure of having
14 men maybe taking its toll but Despite this, the
lads never really looked under any pressure. Toby continued
where he left off before Christmas with a strong showing on
the wing. Early in the half he called over the kick onto
his wing and after the ball was caught he smashed his
opposite number before he had the chance to think. This
pressure eventually led to Brinty powering through under the
posts but it was judged to be held up after clever work from
a Battersea back.
The
penalty count this half was shocking at best and it probably
caused the game to lose any kind of momentum. The only
other highlight of a dreary and bloody cold second half was
Rodders' try. He seemed to jog the ball in from outside the
22 after good work from the backs. Greggo converted and the
game ended 38-0
Points to Mention
-
No
injuries today (other than Phil's "kick to the head"). Shona
took this opportunity to treat the whole of the
Battersea team instead. They seemed to be dropping like
flies.
-
Badger - he didn't play today but he normally cries if
he's not mentioned in the report. You still owe 2 jugs!
Man
of the Match - Ian Gregg
Greggo had
a brilliant 80 minutes all around and managed to cap it off
with 13 points. Does anyone own a kicking tee?
Dick
of the Day - Captain Brinty
Brint
was a man on a mission - to beat 50 Shents penalty count
from last year. Only 4 more penalties would have taken the
record.
Squad
- Farmer Dave, Beta Gamma Tubby, 50 Shents, Cazza,
Rowan, Bradders, Clint, Joolsy, Grandad Simon, Captain
Brinty, Greggo, Toby, Rodders, Pete T, Bryan the Vet, Nozza,
Paul,
Craigy |
