Greenwich II 7 v Bexley IIs 10
Saturday 18th October 2008

Line Up: Sam Knapp, Nick Wallden, James Lambert, Mike Corbin, Joe Roberts, Danny Hogarth, Stuart Frost, Gerard Vallely, Stuart Winfield, Dave Jones, John Lambie, Pimp, James Barker, Koso Keys, Bill Ford Replacements: Sam Nutland; Alex Head.

Greenwich fielded a strong-second team against an experienced Bexley second XV. However a number of players were out-of-position: Stuart Winfield stepped in at scrum-half, Joe Roberts filled in at second row and Nick Wallden made his debut at hooker. Despite its make-shift appearance the Greenwich front five acquitted itself remarkably well throughout. Both props (Sam and James) held their own against more experienced players.

Throughout the first half the mobile Greenwich back-row kept the Bexley half-backs under pressure. The opening exchanges were fairly even. Bexley were awarded a penalty which was converted to add three points. The lineout functioned well with Danny Hogarth as the main jumper although occasional mistiming of throws meant that one or two lineouts did go awry. Pimp made his first appearance of the season putting in an excellent defensive performance in the centres. His aggressive tackling resulted in a number of crucial turnovers, and coupled with Gerard’s abrasive running, gave the Greenwich side a real physical dynamism.

Occasionally tempers frayed and one player from each side was sin-binned after a brief fracas. At half-time Greenwich found themselves 7-3 up thanks to quick movement of a scrappy line-out ball. Loose play allowed Lamby to break away, regather the ball and cross for a try that was converted.

The second-half began with the same pattern as the first. Sam Nutland came on for Stuart Frost. Gerard began to step in at hooker on Greenwich’s put-in. Neither team was able to create many scoring chances. Greenwich’s defence was excellent throughout with Doug helping to strengthen the back-line. As a result Bexley continued to kick a lot of ball behind the Greenwich back three. Eventually one of these speculative kicks paid off. One of the Bexley backs beat full-back Bill to an awkwardly placed kick and raced away to score under the posts. The conversion gave Bexley a narrow lead.

Alex Head made a welcome return coming on at scrum-half as James Barker made way on the wing. Alex’s energy and darting runs revitalised the home team, but one or two Greenwich forwards began to tire. An injury to Joe Roberts lead to his replacement by Stuart Frost. As the half progressed Greenwich struggled to find the decisive break or play that would have swing the game back their way. As a result the final score remained 7-10 and despite a strong team performance Greenwich slipped to a narrow defeat.

Trys: John Lambie Cons: Dave Jones

3- Danny Hogarth 2- 1-

Russ

I know that you got your match report from Frostie but I find it hard to believe that even someone as myopic as the Mekon would have given that report based on that game. Far from holding their own the front five struggled through large parts of the game. Some members of it were walking about the pitch after the first five minutes. I started to replace Nick on our put in after five or six scrums when it became obvious that he had no intention of trying to strike for the ball. Stuart stepped in at scrum half because before the game I was told that he had played there often. He clearly hadn't. The "occasionally" mistimed balls were in the majority. He is accurate in that the defence (particularly in midfield) was strong and to my mind it was that which allowed us to stay in touch. Whilst there were many good points we should not delude ourselves that we had the game there for the taking.

Gerard

PS The conversion was kicked by Doug Jones - who is this Dave you refer to?

The Mekon shall be reprimanded.