Match Report -OM’s 2nd XV vs Old Actonians
Old Actonians- 45 OM’s- 17
On a grey and overcast afternoon the OM’s boys took a long trip down to the wilds of Acton, and pulled on the rugby boots and the hallowed choccy and white to face up against a tough opposition side, Old Actonians.
After a big win at Watford the week before, OM’s were looking to chalk up another W on the board and continue their so far winning season. The boys turned up in dribs and drabs for the fixture, and thus we had less time to train on the pitch as a team. This clearly showed in the first 15 minutes of the game, where Actonians put two tries on us. It could be said that at this point our rugby heads weren’t fully screwed on and our entire focus was not on the game as it should have been.
However OM’s responded to the outrage of these two tries with force, in the form of fullback Alex Meordy slotting a saucy kick down the wing which he chased down and scored. With the forwards dominating the scrums, we hoped this would turn the tide of the match. Unfortunately OM’s were unable to build on this success and Old Actonians scored against us once more before the half time whistle. It should be mentioned that throughout the first half and indeed the entire match, the ref either seemed to be looking the other way or playing by his own personal set of rules, different to the ones everyone else plays by, but we shan’t dwell on that too much.
Will and Phillipe (C) addressed the team in the break, outlining the areas that needed to be worked on, particularly around the breakdown and keeping ball in hand, and urged us on to establish ourselves as the dominant team in the second half.
Fired up, the OM’s boys returned to the field looking to do a number on the opposing team and claw back some well deserved points. However this was not forthcoming, as Actonians scored two tries against us in 15 minutes. Actonians were extremely strong at the breakdown and had some pace and flair in the backs which they used to full effect. After some fantastic phases and pressure from OM’s, Phillipe Hadj scored a blinder of a try in the right hand corner, avoiding with ease the two actonians who were snapping at his heels. Coach Will Wheeler came on as a super sub in the second half replacing a front row injury
An absolutely outstanding passage of play occurred after Blaine Abrahams, (a pretty hefty second row I’d mention), sold his man like a cheap house on our 22 with a naughty step, before proceeding to steamroll another opponent before unfortunately being taken down himself. But the fun didn’t end there.
About a minute later Head coach William Wheeler sent a fat prop flying after a savage hand off. The opposing prop was clearly so stung about being sat down so resoundingly, that he tried to start a fight with our peaceful Will, who politely declined his challenge, being about two feet away from the referee’s nose.
Shortly after this passage of play, and following a sustained attack on the opposition try line, Blaine Abrahams bundled the ball over the try line to regain some dignity in the scoreline.
Not long later the final whistle blew and ended what had been a frustrating 80 minutes.
Throughout the game, we were somewhat lacking in the kicking department, with Will Donald seeming to have forgotten how far away the touch line was. Furthermore, the string of injuries we tallied up did not much help matters either
Alll in all, as disappointing as the scoreline was, it did not reflect by any means the huge amount of effort the lads put in. Following this weeks defeat, we’re looking to build on the positives and iron out the kinks in training. Big thank you to all who turned up to play
MoM- Blaine Abrahams- An absolute powerhouse in both defence and attack
DoD- Danny Weller- Never wear red tracksuits in front of your rugby team