OHRFC 2nds 12 v 50+ Reeds Weybridge 2nds - ish

Match Report by Timbo
2nd XV versus Reeds Weybridge

The OH 2nd XV travelled to Reeds Weybridge with some last-minute Friday night additions giving us 17 and two on the bench.
Reeds, on the other hand, had no such issues with players, managing to gain several from their first XV, whose much-anticipated game against Met Police was postponed due to the act of terrorism earlier in the week and their players being rostered on for duty. This meant when the game started, 5 players from their firsts jumped the fence and straight onto the ground minutes before our game.
With a very different team in front of us to the one we beat 74-5 earlier in the year, OH still managed to make a positive start in large part to our two debutants “Johnny Boy” and “Ockie”, who were last-minute fill ins and both put in great shifts. A shame many of our usual crop were unavailable; however, lunch with the new Mrs went very well Matt Helmsley said and we look forward to him returning this week.
The drive and determination from OH was quickly stunned by oppositions’ first team players creating two sharp opportunities for their speedsters to finish.
12-0 down the OH kept their heads up and easily could have pulled tries back after some tremendous breaks from Rory, Ockie, Bob, Adam and Aussie Asho, who despite smelling and looking like Robert Downey Jnr after a big Friday evening put in a great first half.
Unfortunately, two more missed tackles saw the home side run in two tries to take a 24-0 lead, which was generous given how many opportunities OH had in their points-scoring half.
A big effort was required and a sharp speech from skipper Ben had us back in the game mentally. The forwards started to get their hands on the pill with Baker, Reds and Ockie putting in some great carries. New lad Johnny Boy was also having a cracking game. Not having played since High School where he’d played very little in his native Pretoria and never at Hooker, he put in a shift all day to run out 80-minutes and pack every scrum.
A great bit of hands from Fred, Rory, Bob, Adam and then a superb finish from ‘Disco Fever’ himself Aussie Asho out wide pulled it back to 24-5.
OH then went forward with another terrific drive, and Bob slipped one tackle and was a metre from the line when he was tipped up well above the horizontal by an “unknown tackler” according to the referee.
No yellow card and no penalty try left OH quite stunned, but a smart quick tap nearly had Bakes over the line, held up just short. A crisp pass from Andy to Aussie Tim down the blind side from the ruck saw him crash over their 17-year-old, 5 ft 6 scrum half and score OH’s second meat pie. A nice conversion from Fred saw OH 24-12 down at half time and in good shape to mount a comeback after the break.
Unfortunately, OH succumbed to another fast break and let in another meat pie to home side after the break. However, their resolve was not stopped and the OH bounced back with a great drive to see us put the home team back inside their own 22.
A loose ball out to one of their big boys who ran straight for Aussie Tim quickly turned this game to the favour of Reeds, as OH’s antipodean decided instead of tackling him low around the waist he would pull out a move that you’d normally see in the WWE and not on the rugby pitch. Like a dog who’d taken a shit inside, Aussie Tim then made sure it looked like he was sympathetic and apologetic for the ‘accidental high tackle’. The ref agreed and said it would just be a yellow on this occasion.
To OH’s credit, they defended gallantly with just 14 on the park, allowing just one extra try and keeping the score to 38-12 for the 10 minutes.
The fatigue of defending with 14 and on a hot day took its toll, with Ockie suffering badly from cramp and Bob copping one of Baker’s size 13 studs to the wrist in a breakdown.
This gave OH’s third debutant Oscar his chance, and the lad who also hasn’t played since high school didn’t disappoint, putting in some terrific carries on the wing.
Back to 15, OH couldn’t match the fresh legs of the home team, who brought on their 8th substitute and another first team player by the 60th minute.
A defiant OH kept driving forward, with Benno who’d moved to half back after a sojourn on the wing, kept the lads organized and moving in the right direction for the last 15. Each time we got within reach of their try line a quick turnover and break saw the opposition take the ball 80 metres and score.
One such break perhaps should have been stopped by the referee, a clear knock on from a restart saw their lock drop the ball forward two metres and then collect his own knock on and run the ball 70 metres while everyone else stood still. Thankfully Hayden who had shifted to full back didn’t stop and put in a tremendous hit to send the lock flying out of bounds 5 metres from the try line.
A couple more tries to the home side saw them run out easy winners 50+ to 12.
MOM – Aussie Asho for fronting up after a 3am Camden session, getting lost on the way home, fronting up to play 60-minutes, score a terrific meat pie and all round strong performance on the wing, a position he’s not played since he was 16. Big shout outs to Johnny Boy, Ockie, Adam, and Baker for big games.
DOD – Aussie Tim. While Andy’s backwards kick may have won this on any other day, a careless high tackle at a time when OH were still in the match and reducing the lads to 14, took the honours on this occasion.