This was a little adventure through Richmond and Mortlake and then the traffic jam at Putney Green. We then made our way over Putney Bridge to the Hurlingham Park to play what we thought would have been their 4th’s. But somehow the fixture had changed…we were on the main pitch playing an experimental ad hoc team they called the vets!!
Pretty strong old side with some tough up front stuff and with the lineout showing a fair amount of claret from time to time…..noses went through it as you can see from Tony’s photo journalism!!
We had a number of guests players and an unknown strength….we did have a proven pack and with the return of Len at 2nd row this made a world of difference and he made many forward drives ably supported by Matt, Tom, and the whole backrow…all pushing ahead and for most of the game we played in their half. Michael in the line out jumped well in Steve absence ion the ski slopes and we had a fair shore of the ball.
Brad at outside with a number of guests players played to the game plan and kept pushing us back up the pitch by very good kicking
Ian and Peter played well at centres and Ian made some cracking runs but we were short on back up support for him and many time she made good breaks but through his speed lost support …no on could keep up with him!
Our big problem was not being able to convert the huge pressure we put on the opposition and in their half for most of the game into points. We tried hard and cam every close but we did miss our “killer” outsides who would have finished off the good work done by Brad and Ian and Peter…we just lacked that little extra speed .
In comparison the opposition, Hammersmith & Fulham made the most of their opportunities and ran 5 tries in on the wings
Final score of 25 to nil. But a game played with Great Spirit right to the last whistle and minute!
We then retired back to The White Swan for a very pleasant analysis of the game
Great to have Iron Man back on the pitch again and you will see once more the fantastic advantages of having a photo journalism…there are some cracking shots and Tony has once again managed to get a shot of everyone inaction …even Jonathan nose!
Cheers
Colin/Tony