Sat 26 Oct 2019
OM’s vs Staines 26 Oct 2019
In ‘very wet’ conditions the OMs prepared to continue their unbeaten run in the league at Headstone Lane. In slippery conditions handling was always going to be an issue (and, to be honest, the strongest defender of the Staines line, as Joe Wray was to discover), and club stalwart CJC knocked on with his first touch of the game. He would go on to knock on with his last touch of the game also, cruelly breaking his leg with the goal line beckoning after would-be defender fell awkwardly on him in the tackle. We wish Chris all the best with his recovery.
Thanks also to the 2s who graciously allowed the 1s to move to their pitch to continue the game. To those back home who told me that club rugby was dead in England when I ventured over here, I can report that Club Spirit is alive and well at Headstone lane.
Normal service resumed with the restart of play, with Oms crossing the chalk at will. Whatapp’s character limit restricts me from listing all our tries, however several plays were worth a mention: Highlights including Louis Bird’s turn at fullback, with several excellent finishes down the left flank, and Brad Abraham’s almost apologetic dummy with a Newman-esque nod to his outside man, sending the hapless fullback the wrong way and then forcing him to chase him to the line as he walked it in.
Staines valiantly tried to keep within touching distance of OMs score, opting to kick for goal with a penalty in OMs half, however it was not meant to be for them; the kick fell short and Oms likely ran the length of field to score. To say that their defense was newspaper thin is an insult to paper, but the Oms kept their shape well and handling was overall excellent. Staines’ conditioning was probably slightly lacking, and with several injuries to the opposition delaying play, and the referee, despite his best efforts to limit the damage (notably calling for a forward pass on the 22 while standing on the halfway, obviously a graduate of The Wayne Barnes Academy; and yellow carding OMs debutant Blaine Abraham on his maiden outing for tickling the Staines’ winger in a ruck(some say a possible result of exercising residual anger from the morning’s RWC matches)), decided the match should be called at 60mins and put an end to the slaughter. Score: 78-0, which, on a time-adjusted basis, is about 102 to nil by my calculations. The OMs will know that there are sterner tests to come, however it was good to get the result on the day, especially with the shock of CJC’s injury.