Yet another trek to North East London saw us take on Old Street for the second time this season. We travelled with a large squad in confident mood having despatched these lads in the home fixture earlier in the season.

Warm up and team run through went well and despite windy conditions the boys were confident of executing the game plan.

We started with a very strong team, from the kick off we carried well with Dixey and Gareth showing willing with ball in hand early doors. Old Street immediately fronted up in defense and looked to counter us at the rucks with their bigger forwards. We expected a hard and physical game from this first play and despite gaining yards, we ended up knocking on just outside their 22. This led to the first scrum which put down a marker, our front row dominated in the tight, forcing the oppo back from the initial hit, they didn’t want to know from then on.

A couple more phases played out before the first score of the game, some fine work from the half backs Dave and Zac before big James Mitchell twisting with power to crash over the try line. A couple more scores followed in quick succession, Mitchell senior with another following a good steal from Reg off a line out,  in addition to a fine run and finish from the evergreen Paul Davies. The backs began to take control, Zac having more and more influence from 10, stepping inside and out to create try’s and notch one brilliant score himself.

Old street did push back and managed to score once before half time but they had no answer to our set piece, ball carrying, and backs dominance. A couple of scores before half time from top scorer Charles Draper took the wind out of their sails and effectively tied things up before the break.

Second half was about closing out the game in a professional manner, and trying to get all 8 subs on with decent game time. Micky Booth stepped inside off the wing to deliver a perfect ball for Mitchell to finalise the hat trick, before then scoring a flair try with pace himself running over half the pitch.

Subs came thick and fast but our dominance continued, despite a much changed scrum and back line. Ollie Stern continued Dan Serfs dominance at the line out, allowing Dave to supply precise passes throughout. Ali Johnston stepped in at tight head to drive the scrum even further back on his front row debut.

A couple more scores followed, one penalty try after good work from the forward pack after a penalty, then Nick Turner taking a kick off and running half the pitch,  through an Old Street winger, oxygen was needed immediately after for the lad.

Old Street did sneak one more back at the end, combination of some tired legs and lack of concentration, we did have the last laugh however as some good work from Mark Paris released Bertram on the right wing who showed a good turn of pace and eye for the sticks. Game over and a cracking first game back in 2020, onwards to Hackney next week to keep the momentum going.

 

The Hammers went into this game full of confidence, following an unbeaten spree dating back to September. Their opposition, equally assured sitting at the top of the table, albeit by a margin that had become less convincing in recent weeks. Six points yet one position, was all that separated these teams in what was sure to transpire into one of the games of the season. The build-up was equally intense, arising from multiple exchanges on an assortment of Social Media channels. There was only one victor here though with TJ Perenara, Samu Kerevi, Jacob Stockdale and Jonny May’s mother reaching out to show their support for the Hammers on this blustery winter’s day; something Alex Hart’s bean pole figure must have clearly been struggling to cope with, following his 45 minute late arrival to Old Deer Park.

It was the Hammers who got off to the better start, dominating the opening 20 minutes, despite the early loss of Peter Benson – who lasted 5 minutes longer than usual. In spite of this ascendancy Phil Lord’s juggling career was struggling to ignite, much like Ben “Scholesy” Hatton’s love life… dropping the ball close to the line. Not even the magic of Will “Genie” Smith could produce the points, following what the ref deemed a hold up over the whitewash, the score remaining 0 vs 0. It wasn’t until the Hammers number 9 stepped up to slot the first 3 points of the game that the deadlock was finally broken. Unfortunately, the lead didn’t last for long. With the Exiles first, second and only entries into the men in blue’s 22, leading to the only two tries of the opening 40 minutes. The score 12 vs 3.

With some strong words shared at half time the Hammers came flying out the blocks. An accurate dart from Phil Lord, followed by a pin point cross field via Ben “Scholesy” Hatton had the Exiles 14 running around with what can only be described as showing the awareness of a Dodo. This gave chance to the in form Alex Gee, who despite his American-Ready endomorphic body type managed to leap high above his opposite man and over the line. One Shearer style celebration later and the score was 12 vs 8, the Hammers back in the game!

With momentum starting to build in favour of the Hammers, a quick glimpse up at Liv ogling at individuals who you would preferably take home to your parents, was enough to lead Mitch Mitchell Mitchellson IV into a lapse of concentration, as he proceeded to collide with the plague-ridden Sam “Purv” Purvis to bring the ball deep into the Hammers half. This was the beginning of a 20 minute slump for the men in blue, with the Exiles looking to apply pressure. A few strong carries followed by a quick scurry from the 9 led to the 3^rd Welsh try of the match… the score now 19 vs 8. Unfortunately, this was followed in quick succession by another, thanks to the Exiles winger, whose dummy left Xander Stephen and Alex “The Bean-Pole” Hart parting faster than the Red Sea.

Over the next quarter the Hammers began to re-establish themselves through strong carries from both members of the Doctor partnership Steve John and Angus Lean, fresh from the set of Embarrassing Bodies. A penalty leading to a line out deep into the Welsh 22 was the opportunity that the men in blue were looking for. A robust catch and drive despite a Phil Lord trip – presumably because his sister forgot to tie his laces, set up the perfect platform for the backs; 3 passes later including one from the subdued James Lo, and Gee was over again in the corner; the score, 26 vs 13. This pressure continued throughout the final ten minutes, with the boys pressing for their third of the match. Perhaps it would have happened if Cillian “Luigi” Waldron’s hands weren’t made of butterscotch – dropping two budding interceptions in the latter stages. A few rucks, a side entry and one Jacob Poulton appeal later and the whistle was blown, final score Welsh 26, Hammers 13.

While the Hammers fell short on this occasion, they can go into their winter break in good spirits knowing that they have the ability to right some wrongs; whilst, appreciating that the strain on their backs will have additional time to recover through the absence of Cillian “Luigi” Waldron and Mitch Mitchell Mitchellson IV throughout the start of the New Year. Merry Christmas!

* For the purpose of this report the roles of James Lo and Alex Gee were reversed for the readers pleasure

On yet another trip to the other side of the country to play Hackney away, the 4s were on a bit of a downer following the long trek east.

Bolstered by a good squad and a dominant previous week  victory over Ickenham, the boys were confident at kick off. Game started at a fast pace with our lads probing for turn overs from the off, despite some suspect reffing the boys managed to get the ball back swiftly. First period of possession resulting in a strong forwards try following some big ball carries up the middle, big Phil Lord crossing the whitewash. The second try followed soon after, a brilliant team try that passed through 10 hands and ended up with Tom Dixey smashing over from close range.

With the wind beneath the sails the boys kicked on and scored again showing some silky skills and absolute dominance in the set piece, line out spot on with Nick Haigh jumping brilliantly, scrum going well with Angus and Steve turning balls over against the head. However, following a period of good defence in our 22 the hackney forward pack did manage to scrape a try back, met with jubilation from their packed home crowd. Then came a moment of madness, eager to get back on the front foot, the boys pushed into the Hackney 22, looking threatening every play, unfortunately however, big Phil got a bit lost in the centres and quickly became apparent he was way out of his depth, throwing an interception to their full back who sprinted for the long range try. Game on!

Half time came and went with an air of tension despite us clearly being the better team. Dominance was however soon restored and a number of tries followed swiftly, Marshall and Dave bossing the midfield, James and Dixey the forwards, Jamie the backs. Hackney had no answer to the onslaught and the emptying the bench made it worse form the home side. Great performance all around and well deserved win.

Final Score 58-19

MOM – Dave Buchannan / Phil Lord

DOD – Jamie Drysdale

Well girls, what a game it was again. Wimbledon did challenge us and pushed us around, which only made us work harder. But it was with a great spirit that we worked hard and made the game ours, and scoring the 5 tries we need to get our well-deserved bonus point win.

It all started pretty well, and after a couple of minutes in the game we were already in Wimbledon’s 22m. Hard lines and clever play got our forwards got Fred to identify a tiny gap in their defensive line, and drove over the line with great support from Kaye. Great forwards tekkers. 0-5.

 

Opening the score line got us in a pretty confident position, we we had a cracking first 20min, with our scrums being super dominant and our strong runners breaking the defensive lines on multiple occasion. Wimbledon came at us pretty hard in that second part of the first half, but struggling to find some space as our line speed was pretty awesome. Their fly-half, acknowledging they weren’t going anywhere, went for a little kick and chase over the top of the line, and scored what was a lovely try all things considered. with the conversion, score was now 7-5.

But we were pretty much done with Wimbledon scoring tries. We were back in possession, back in their territory, and another scrum happened. That’s when our Kaye decided she’s had enough of all that scrummage and casually took the ball to go over the try line, even fooling our flankers who were still pushing when she put the ball down. Great decision making, and back in the game we were. 7-10.

 

After a kick from Wimbledon trying to find touch, Katherine managed to kept the ball in and turned what could have been the opportunity for them to be back in the game into our own chance to score. Scrum down, beautiful 8 pick-up from Kaye again, who pops it back to Katherine who had the speediest run and scored try number 3.

The following 20min gave us some pretty hard work to do, but our cracking word in defence gave us lots of tu

rnovers (thanks Kaye) and Wimbledon couldn’t just handle the pressure coming in from those tackles (Dr Alex, Lizzy and Aly I’m looking at you). Using those opportunities at their best, our back line was just on fire and Lizzy got herself one beauty o

f a try to get the score up to 7-20.

Forwards decided to join in in what was a true collective performance, and after a solid defensive effort from John which put their fly-half under pressure, Ham

mers got another quick ball to use, and Charlotte powered through about 3 people to get the score up to 7-25.

Forward of the match went to Kaye for some huge tackles, great turnovers and all-round big performance.And because we love it – we just kept going, showing everyone on the sideline that Hammers can truly play 80min of rugby at their best. In one final effort, Aly literally kangaroo springs out of a tackle to run in a try, making the final score 30-7.

• Back of the match went to Lizzie for some great defensive work, one hell of a try and being a real threat on her wing.

It was after a heartbreaking 10-12 loss to top of the table Belsize Park that Hammersmith & Fulham 2XVs were travelling to Old Street to play against HAC hoping to start a new winning streak.

The game began quite well for H&F who obtained a line out in the opposition’s 22s after only a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, it was lost and HAC managed to make their way back to H&F’s half where they set camp for the next 20 minutes. Heroic defense never allowed HAC to cross the try line but the Hammers never really managed to get out of their half due to a poor line out and SBW-like offload attempts in the backline that didn’t end with the expected outcome.

Eventually, HAC got a clean breaks playing blindside on a scrum and came close to scoring. H&F were saved by their new number 10 Marshall MacLeod who managed to snatch the ball near the tryline. As HAC regained possession after the clearance kick and looked like their were going to spend the next 20 minutes hitting a brick wall, they eventually decided the kick a penalty when the opportunity was given. 25m to the right side of the posts and it went wide.

H&F realised that it was probably time to react and Magnus Barber celebrated his comeback to rugby by getting a penalty in H&F’s 22s which he played quickly and with good support he brought the game to HAC’s half who were then guilty of an intentional knock-on the stop the play, the first one of a long series. A good kick by French resident Louis van Langenhove and the Hammers were back for the first time in ages in HAC’s 22s. After a few phases H&F were awarded a penalty on the 22m line. Spotting that HAC’s defence wasn’t in a rush to get set, Louis vL played the penalty and thought he was off for a try only to be stopped by the referee who did not see him tapping the ball. Instead, the Hammers got a last opportunity with a 5m line out but the ball was lost and halftime was called on the beautiful score of 0-0.

The second half was more or less a remake of the first one, with HAC holding the ball in H&F’s 22s but not being able to score. As H&F’s forwards starting to get tired of defending, the scrums went backwards more and more. HAC took this opportunity to put more pressure on the Hammers’ defence and finally crossed the white wash but the ball was held up. On the following scrum, the Hammers were driven all the way back to the line and were saved by HAC’s no.8’s clumsiness who knocked the ball on whilst he only had to put pressure on it to score.

After probably 20 minutes spent in the same part of the pitch, HAC finally managed to score a try: with a scrum in Hammers’ 22s and despite a poor pass from HAC’s scrum-half that put his whole team on the back foot, HAC’s centre and captain found space out wide and one offload later a try was scored on the wing, followed by a successful conversion. HAC 7 – 0 H&FRFC.

From this moment on, the game became much more even with the Hammers finally able to put their hands on the ball. Unfortunately, silly mistakes and bad handling prevented H&F to bring too much danger. On the plus side, debutant Will Smith became a solid contender for the “Tackle of the Year” award when he absolutely dismantled his opposite man. Understanding that they would not get anymore opportunities to score a try, HAC kicked to the posts as soon as they got the possibility. From about 30m slightly to the left side of the posts, HAC’s kicker didn’t miss the target. HAC 10 – 0 H&FRFC.

With only 10 minutes left on the clock, Hammersmith & Fulham played with more urgency and finally managed to consistently go though the gainline. Following their 4th intentional knock-on of the day, HAC finally got the yellow card they deserved and it allowed H&F to settle in the opposition’s 22s. Sadly and despite another 5m line out, H&F never managed to get points on the board.

Final Score HAC 10 – 0 H&FRFC.