OH1sts Kick Off 2024 with a cracking win v Old Wimbledonians

Afternoon all,

Happy Monday!

Saturday saw the lads take on mid-table side, Old Wimbledonians at home, as we all returned after the Christmas break to South West London from various country homes and/or the slopes of Val-d'Isère. Unfortunately, I have a terrible habit of forgetting things almost immediately after they have taken place so parts of this report may be slightly inaccurate or blatantly fabricated……Anyway, on that note – it was a glorious January day, sun shining, just over 25 degrees and Matt Richo got us underway with a drop kick.

The opening 10 or so minutes was a cagey and scrappy affair as we all shook off our Christmas hangovers and tried to run off some of the remaining holiday weight. Finally, somebody, probably Clesh, got over the ball to win a penalty straight in front of the posts to break the deadlock……unfortunately our kicker decided we weren’t ready take the lead just yet and, cleverly pulled the kick wide and proceeded to blame the tee for this mistake, as all good kickers do. Fortunately though his blunders were quickly reprimanded by some fantastic grunt work from the forwards, as Tobi bundled over for the opening score after a series of well executed ‘grey balls’. Angry about this score, our kicker decided, yet again, that we shouldn’t take too much of a lead so hooks this wide, and decided to blame Clesh this time – not sure why. A few minutes later our lead was squandered by a runaway try from an inexcusable intercept pass thrown by our resident ape, who also happens to be our kicker….. solidifying his position as dick of the day. The following 20-30 minutes of the first half included a few tremendous carries from Sonny and big Benny, a series of handling errors, a few rules made up and slight sense of worry as the game became a bit of a dog fight. Luckily though, we maintained the upper hand physically, and Sonny was finally rewarded for all his hard yards with 5 points to add to the scoreline. Thankfully for me, he was kind enough to dot down under the sticks and no mistake was made from the tee. As the first half drew to a close, Chicken, with his famous scavenger mentality, scooped up the loose ball from a Wimbledonian lineout error to add a third try to the tally! Naturally, I missed the kick and passed the duties onto Jonny who took to the task with very little fuss, kicking almost infinitely more points in the second half than I had managed in the first.

HT - 19-7

The second half began a little like the first, but after some pressure from the away side we finally settled into our Eagle maps and played some more expansive rugby. Once again the forwards continued to have the edge over their opposite men and some classy first phase moves from the backs got the likes of Benny and Jelly over the gainline and deep into opposition territory. The beneficiary from this front foot ball was our leader, Clesh who got on the end of a clever pop pass from Jonny and expertly touched down under the posts. Extras added by Searley. What followed was a passage of almost unstoppable rugby from the men in red and white with two, quite remarkable, finishes in either corner by Benny and Ethan, swatting away defenders, reminiscent of a young George North. By this point, we were home and dry, with all 5 points secured, briefly providing a bit of daylight between us and the chasing pack. All in all, a dogged, but ruthless performance – one we can be proud of but know we can build on in weeks to come. A note from the 2s as well who also held out for a win at home to make it a great club day all round!

Some special mentions from the game – Sonny and Benny, who ran at the same holes all day and still couldn’t be stopped. Gilbert, who operated the lineout flawlessly. Blackwell, who got (legally?) smacked in the head early on but battled on like a champ. The whole pack and replacements, who made life pretty miserable for the visitors most of the afternoon.

On the back of this, we look forward to travelling down next Saturday to face Old Whitgiftians in Croydon, which is famously a tough place to go – preparations underway.

Le Point Bonus,

Will Thomas

DOTD - Thommo

MOTM - Benny Trim

Final Score - c. 38-7 (6 tries to 1)