OHs lose to League high flyers Teddington

Happy Tuesday lads,

This Saturday saw the OH 2XV take on fellow league high fliers Teddington.
OH began the game kicking to Teddington and after giving away a few penalties soon found ourselves under siege in our 22, with Teddington intent to kick to the corner in an attempt to get the first try on the board, and to get their 6ft 9 South African running free. The OH defence stood firm, however, doggedly holding up one would be carrier over the line and putting in multiple big hits in the midfield. With their attack going nowhere, Teddington finally settled for taking three with a penalty in front of the posts.

After absorbing this pressure, the game began to open up, with both teams getting some time on the ball and OH finally having the opportunity to attack. The first try went to Teddington, however, as they made a break through the middle and one of the supporting runners went over, with their prop/hooker/ten adding the extras. Not to be deterred though, and finally given an opportunity with the ball in hand, OH marched straight back up the field. A series of penalties saw Alex Long put boot to ball until we were inside their 22. With the momentum now on our side Jamie called for the corner rather than the posts, lineout ball was secured, and the maul drove over with the try being dotted down by Darts, leaving the score at 10-5.

The rest of the first half continued to be a tightly contested affair, with both teams making several line breaks. OH earned a penalty and went for the posts to narrow the score. Unfortunately, Alex Long “hit the ball too well” (his words, not mine), and the score remained the same until Teddington saw another of their line breaks tell and went over our line for their second try, leaving the score at 17-5. The half ended on a nervy note as Teddington’s second row broke through, before inexplicably deciding to put boot to ball, allowing OH to mop up at the back and head to the half time team talk with the scoreline the same and everything still to play for.

The second half opened with OH seeing a lot more of the ball, repeatedly making line strong carries up the middle from the pack. The pressure began to tell as the penalties mounted up and after one such run from Ollie Beere, Teddington’s prop was sent to the bin for a high shot. With the extra man advantage, OH began to work our way up to the Teddington line frequently, only being held out by some good tackling and unfortunate penalties. With the pressure continuing, Teddington saw a second man sent to the bin for stopping us from going in in the corner. Now with two extra players, the pressure finally told as OH went wide, and despite the sideline thinking it had been butchered, yours truly wiggled through to dot down. As it turned out, this proved to be slightly too much exertion, and a quick sub was required as I earned myself DOTD by yakking up on my way to the sideline, my shame only being relieved by turning round to see Kieran doing the same thing. With the score now at 17-12 and still with the two man advantage, a nervy final 15 followed. OH had several good opportunities to score, only missing the final pass to get our noses in front, however the game ended in heartbreak as an unfortunate bounce from a cross-field kick saw Teddington’s wing dot down, making the final score 24-12.

Despite the loss, and as so eloquently put by Alf, the game was a real testament to our structure and physicality, and on another day the scoreline could easily have been reversed. Big credit should be given to all of our pack, Kieran for his strong running of the game at 10, and MOTM Alex Long for his excellent tactical kicking all day.

MOTM: Alex Long
DOTD: Chris Bryant

Hearts & Wings

Chris