Win in first League match for OH 2nds

Match Report: 2nd XV vs Old Walcountians 2nd XV (23rd September)

The 2s turned up to Old Walcountians RFC full of optimism but also determined to correct the mistakes from last Saturday's friendly against London Irish Amateurs and deliver a strong performance in the first league game of the 2023/24 season. Unfortunately, during the warm-up we were informed that our opponents could not field 15 players and after a discussion between the two captains and the referee, it was decided that the match would be a 13 a-side game with OH providing an additional player to Old Walcountians.

Following a great warm-up led by Zac Jev, OH started the game strongly, camped in Old Walcountians half and immediately put them on the back foot with powerful phase play by the forwards before a backs move saw Archie Hancock go under the posts to score the first try of the game. Old Walcountians looked to fight back, however a strong defensive display prevented them from stringing multiple phases together and showed signs that we had corrected the defensive errors from last week. OH continued to press and the hard work soon paid off with debutant Jordan Porter crashing over to score the second try of the game. The tries kept coming with the backs now keen to get in on the action and showcase some “jouer” rugby which resulted in Max Laming going over for OH’s third try. At this point, the game was moving along suspiciously smoothly with OH’s clinical attack proving deadly and Old Walcountian’s big ball carriers unable to breach OH's defence. However, as half time beckoned and the energy reserves were being tested, the lads could at least enjoy the rest of the game knowing that they will not be receiving the DOTD award as I squandered a golden opportunity by dropping the ball over the line before adamantly defending that I had grounded the ball (it turns out I hadn’t). Fortunately, while I was mulling over the refs correct, but clearly outrageous decision to not award the try, a miskick from the fly half allowed me to gather the ball and run in the fourth try of the game. OH continued to battle hard and went into half time 22-0 up, buoyed by a great first half display up the hill.

OH were quick off the blocks in the second half with debutant Pedro Silva haring after a superb kick by Archie Hancock and displaying some deft footballing skills to control the bouncing ball before gathering it and scoring OH’s fifth try. After an initial period of dominance by OH early in the second half, either a lack of concentration or the thought of post-game pints and birthday celebrations saw Old Walcountians break through the line and then score their first try of the game a few phases later. A quick chat beneath the posts re-lit the spark in the OH backside and saw two further tries with someone (mind blank) and Jordan Porter both converting dominant periods of play deep in the Old Walcountions half. As the game headed towards the final stages, we were treated with one final bit of magic with Harry Bentley slicing his way through the defence to score the last try of the game. Harry was duly rewarded when he got back to Ruxley Lane by being zip tied to Charlie Golding for the entire evening. The final score was 48-5.

Overall, a great start to the 2023/24 season with OH 2nd XV now 2 wins from 2 following the walkover last week against Law Society 2s.

MOTM – Jordan Porter
DOTD – Will Simpson

Next Week: The 2nd XV face Chipstead 2s at Ruxley Lane.

2nd XV League Table Standings (The table has not fully updated following Saturdays fixtures, however with a bonus point win against Old Walcountians we should be near the top of the standings).