3rd XV take on Teddington in a game of 2 halves..
A game of two halves is a bit of an understatement. It was more a game of the first 20 minutes and the final 60.
Defensively the game started strong for the Hammers with great line speed and tackles being made. On attack, twenty minutes into the game things settled down and the team found their groove. Some great Rugby was played, but ultimately this was a team that hadn’t played together before, and errors let Teddington through at key times. The making of a good game was on however, with Hammers showing flashes of brilliance at key times. Confident that they would gel in the second stanza, the boys nevertheless went into the half down 0-14.
In the halftime huddle, Ainsley delivered a positive speech to keep heads high. With the wind at our backs and running downhill in the second half, the Hammers came out swinging with a great run from Dan Whitaker. Sam Smith was able to convert the first try right in front of the posts to begin the comeback.
The momentum continued throughout the second half with the Hammers scoring two more great tries in the second half from Rob McKeon and Russell Wingfield. Sadly this wouldn’t be enough as Teddington was able to utilize a great kicking game and score 2 more tries in the second half. At the final whistle the comeback wasn’t to be, with a final score of 17-28.
Outside of a slow start and a few missed opportunities, it was a great team performance and an example of why you play preseason games to shake off some of the rust from the summer. With multiple charging runs, Dan Whitaker brought home man of the match honors for his great performance.