Hammers rock Hemel 

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First let’s take a moment of silence for our fallen protectors and remember that it is only for those fallen that both teams were able to pull on the jerseys they hold so dear.

The weather was apt for such a weekend of remembrance with the rain falling and a freezing mist descending on the ground defended by the men from Camelot. This was going to be an attritional one and even the beautifully assembled back line had to don studs over a centimetre.

The warm up came and went with little to note but with excuses made early about the dramatic shortening of reproductive organs we came together. We, as one, headed back to the split changing room piggies to the left to talk about pushing and backs to the right all gathered round a single pocket mirror J Lo had “found” in his flight bag – the Hammers were ready.

The rain fell harder as the, recently single, Hatton’s kick off went high into the Hampshire air – but who collected? None other than our very own Taylor Williams who’s salmon-like jump saw him reclaim what was rightfully ours.

The first 10 minutes were industrial with both teams digging in and making the most of every mm they had on their feet. After numerous phases of sideways action our very own Mitchell ‘Mitch’ Mitchellson puts a delicately weighted ball into the corner the Hammers boys are happy with the gain (some wingers even applauded) but Coach Mark is not and MMM is left on the end another wild accusation of his sobriety nicely round led off with F****** I****.

We defended, they defended, the next 10 minutes passed with little to write home about but it was 0-0 and that’s all that mattered until 21 minutes struck and some sloppy defending from their big boys allowed MMM to put our crash ball centre (the big JC) straight through on a switchy switcheroo. The boys in red white and blue were ahead and could smell blood – the kick was missed but an excuse was ready before it had left the tee… something about being recently single.

4 minutes later and having moved to a new technique of the elongated Gary Owen comes from the recently single Ben Hatton… Hammers are awarded a penalty for yet another offside in defence – this time there’s no mistake the conversion is slotted by the ball and chain lacking Hatton. 0-8 and the boys are purring.

The next kick off wasn’t a good one for the boys in red as it skimmed from puddle to puddle untouched and out for a Hammersmith lineout 20 metres out. Fortunately this was one of the few we managed to gather from the grey skies of Herts and yards were made. A cheeky dink was followed by a delicious toe forward and Taylor dived on the ball around the 22 and as Rhona Martin’s “Stone of Destiny” from the 2002 Winter Olympics he aquaplanes his way across the 10, 5 and finally try line dotting the ball down next to the sticks – a phenomenal try proving to all those watching at home that you should never give up on a dream. 0-15.

For the next few minutes The Hammersmith boys returned to the aerial bombardment that had served them so well. A cannon was launched towards the Hemel number 11, he gathered, the Hammersmith chase was fantastic, he panicked, ran sideways and launched a delightfully loopy pass straight in to the arms of the man we call J Lo. Straight under the sticks, conversion added 0-22.

Sadly the resulting kickOff is fumbled by mr Taylor willy who’s heroics from Salt Lake City 2002 could not matched – Hammersmith defended heroically but a slip/missed tackle (potato/potatoe) on their lively 10 allowed him to sear towards our line putting their portly winger in for an easy 5 pointer. The kick was missed and we, these Hammersmith men huddled, still in control, to discuss the 40 minutes that would lead them to their destiny.

5-22 half time.

Wow – it didn’t take long the Hammers boys come out flying and ready to avenge the gift they’ve just given. Those beautifully sweaty, steamy forwards are at it again… trundling towards the line in one of those pushy maully ruck things. As the battle hardened Chamillionaire would say – they see me rollin’ and someone touched down. A sight to behold and looking more and more inviting for those that had at this point lost use of their extremities. The kick was slotted – 5-29.

Our game changers started to make their way onto the thoroughly furrowed turf, big carries followed and we were back where we belonged. A pick and goooo from Jordan on their line resulted in a characteristically hilarious knock on over the line – the crowd sighs. But the scrimmage is strong and we win a penalty against the head. Its scrum time again it’s a big old heave ho steam erupts as the 8 Hammersmith big boys clash with their opposite man and like the bison on the plains of Africa they force their challengers back towards their own line. A penalty try!!! WOW – were ticking over nicely and sit at 5 – 36. Domination at its finest.

We dominate the kick off carrying hard and find ourselves parked about 15m out with a scrum – Joe (now moved back to his rightful role as puppeteer) called a Kiwi, Tonga, Lightyear an unknown move to most of the backline but our back gamechanger the Scottish adonis, Ross, catches the resulting pass and with a delay Southern Trains would be proud of put the recently single Hatton through with 1 man to beat… he winds up the pass and, not knowing his own strength, launched it over Watford and back to Hurlingham Park (a good 30 miles for the statisticians amongst us and a new Guinness World Record).

I don’t know what happened from this passage of play but their lineout malfunctions (not for the first time for either team) and they try and play out from their own try line but… theyre caught… by none other than Steve John (the man, the myth, the destroyer) who folds their 8 like a heavily used Brighton deck chair.

I’m so cold by this point that only calls for delicious orangey spreads can keep me warm but sadly the cross field never comes… next their 10 has an absolute shocker… the rain soaked ball goes through his hands hits his head, chest and eventually calf and he dinks the balls onto the on rushing and recently single Hatton who makes no mistake and canters toward the line… the game is won and euphoria erupts from the soaked Hammers congregation. 5 – 41.

Its crunch time… 36 points ahead, 36 minutes played and a shout comes for one last push… Mitch Mitchell Mitchellson hears something different. Another lineout malfunctions they turn it over and charge for our line… heroic defending here, the boys want to nil this bunch of low lifes… an unknown Hammersmith player melts yet another of these Hemel Hampsters and he spills it… “scrum” calls the ref… Mitch Mitchell Mitchelovic hears something different… we claim the ball and as one we are ready to wear down the clock which we all know (minus MMM) has 2 minutes to go… it comes to the back of the scrum.. composure is needed at such a delicate point… MMM picks it up 5metres from our heavily defended line… and WHAT!!! He kicks it away, dead, fully dead… he runs to celebrate what he thinks was one of his better kicks of the day… only to be reminded that we still have 90seconds to go… confusion ensues but we’re still united and ready to win for the badge and everyone watching back home.

Our dominant scrum destroys theirs and that’s it… the game is through… we’re cold but we’re winners and winners are grinners.

5 – 41. Well done.

Apologies for anything missed and not knowing the intricacies of the forward stuff… I’m still thawing out and never intend to learn the latter.

 

The 2s win in a thriller!

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On a glorious Saturday 26th October – after watching a terrible game of rugby (from a South African’s point of view), England decided to celebrate by providing us with cold and wet conditions to play rugby in. With the late kick off at 5:30pm under the Rosslyn Park floodlights, the team were keen to get going on the 4G pitch. Ed ‘I want to look like Beckham’ James shouted, ‘4G is really good for my laundry.’ Normally the team would be half drunk by 4.00pm but given there was nothing to do other than to think about how shocking New Zealand played, everyone arrive on time for a change. It started off with an easy decider on Dick of the day award for Ash ‘I’m a chav’ Mitchel as he left his boots at home.

With Jack ‘golden boot’ Davies kicking off the game, it all begun. With the wind against us, pretty mild rainfall and a forward pack smaller than the opponents’ backs it looked as if all odds were against us BUT…………

Over the course of the first half a few of the boys stepped in to make crunching covering tackles and one by one we landed up with injuries. First Monty ‘Mr Lover Lover’ Lovering injured because Rosslyn apparently don’t like gingers so a tactical change from our Captain – Jack ‘golden boot’ Davies moving his 12. Ross ‘I don’t have an accent’ Anderson to 9. And Chris ‘I do business – with children’ Ralph coming on. Second injury – Chris ‘I look like Tom Curry’ Aird put in a hit but landed off second best and disappeared off the field only to be found sitting with the spectators holding his shoulder, everyone confounded as we have never seen such magic from a lawyer (or have we). No choice but to bring on Jack ‘no, I look like Tom Curry’ Small.

It was a hard-fought game in the scrums between the between the forward packs, with the Hammers coming off second best. A switch of sides in the scrum between Henry ‘I speak a lot’ Oliver and Slade ‘I’m not allowed to talk’ Buchner leaded to a slightly more stable attacking platform. A massive outburst on the wing from George ‘Run Forrest, Run’ Nellany landed us in their 22 unfortunately only leading to a line out for Rosslyn park. After a big steal from Slade ‘I’m not allowed to talk’ Buchner at the front and a few dirty phases, we got the penalty. Ross Anderson quick tap and no passing policy leading to a crushing tackle, a popped shoulder, and a knock on. He surprisingly popped it back and carried on playing, he must be Asian.

Ref called a penalty and gave Slade a warning for speaking to his captain – A very confused look came across Jack ‘golden boot’ Davies face as he didn’t even know what to tell Slade Buchner other than don’t talk at all. A demand that all players and supporters appreciated.

Rosslyn fought back to our half and had a penalty about 35 m in front of the post. They went for the posts but missed. Half time was called.

Score 0-0

A quick change with Ross coming off due to his shoulder lead to Ed James moving to scrum half and Derry ‘Honey badger’ Waldron at full back. Henry Oliver went off for Tim Williams moving Ollie ‘Penalty machine’ Rea to second row. They kicked off and we didn’t respond, luckily there was a knock on from Rosslyn otherwise it could have been the first score of the match. The Hammers led a massive fight back to Rosslyn half with some great breaks lead to a step and a step by Golden boots’ with a try right under the posts. 7 – 0 to us. Rosslyn kicked off and again another stare down between the penalty machine and Gerad ‘Keep pushing’ Rhodes lead to a bounce ball that was finally secured. A massive kick out of our half and a great chase from George ‘Run Forrest, Run’ Nellany with great pressure and amazing defence from a few forwards forced Rosslyn Park into conceding a penalty. A kick, a maul and a break through the middle of a ruck from Slade Buchner to their 5 m. A few carries later and Tim ‘Did I just score’ Williams over the chalk line. 12 – 0 to Hammers.

It all fell apart with a few missed calls from the ref. It was only the continuous defense from the hammers that kept the home team from crossing the line for 10 minutes. A quick tap and go and missed tackle lead them to crossing the chalk line. Score 12 – 5.

A massive kick from Ed ‘I want to look like Beckham’ James pinned Rosslyn back in their 22. A lot of scrappy play and a missed call led to a penalty – Slade ‘I’m not allowed to talk’ Buchner didn’t say anything. Rosslyn with a missed kick to touch and Sam ‘I’m Blind’ Nursey caught the ball and positioned the Hammers back in Rosslyns half. Chaos ensued with bodies laying everywhere, and everyone scrambling for the ball. A second later a perfect pop straight into Davies and he dropped the best drop goal Johnny Wilkinson has ever seen, he said that Naas Botha would’ve been proud. 15 – 5 to hammers.

A hard fought Rosslyn team came back breaking a tackle and hitting a huge gap to move into the Hammers half. The defense held until the final play off the game where a quick break led to Rosslyn crossing the chalk line under the polls. The final whistle came with only a drop goal the difference between the 2 sides.

Score 15 – 12 finishing time.

Man Of The Match: Ed ‘I want to look like Beckham’ James but left early so Ross ‘I don’t have an accent’ Anderson

Tin Man: Ash ‘I’m a Chav’ Mitchell

Unfortunately, we lost the boat race

 

The 3s bulldoze Teddington in a commanding performance

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After a late in the week call-off from our scheduled opposition in the league, Hammers were grateful to Teddington RFC for stepping up and giving us a match on Saturday. The excitement of England’s semi-final had proved too much for one member of the squad, and so a slightly depleted Hammers 3’s arrived at Teddington after a long journey to some lovely british rain. 

Encouraged by a request for 35 minute halves from the opposition captain, Hammers started strongly and wanting to set the tempo of the game. The forwards and backs were linking up well with fluid handling and determined carries, which led to several early scores for the Hammers with Tom diving over just like tuilagi did on Saturday for the first score, then Ralston started slicing through the defence to score a brace. The Hammers knew they were in control of this game and with good discipline being kept and the option of roll on roll off subs, we decided to freshen up the team with the introduction of a few players and to keep the lads warm.  The first half was very one sided with possession high and keeping energy levels high  there was no let up for the home side, with the Hammers going in at the break to a healthy lead of 41-0.

 Things carried on in much the same vein at the beginning of the second half, led by Captain Cook selling a dummy that would have made Steve Thompson blush before steaming in from the halfway line. With such an abundance of names on the score sheet, Bobby Phillips was determined not to be amongst them and palmed a ball down with the try line begging. This act of generosity sparked a period of resistance from Teddington. They kept their attack tight, using the experience in their pack, and Hammers discipline was poor under this pressure. The arm wrestle was only broken by a yellow card for a shoulder charge from a Teddington player, their second of the match. Hammers scored a well worked team try to have the final say, miraculously converted by N. Emmett. Final score Hammers 55-0 Teddington. 

 Try Scorers

(Ralston x3, Cook x2, Bobby x1, Lachy x1, Eldridge x1, Mohan x1)

Hammers put in a big performance vs Welyn

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On a wet gloomy Saturday, the Hammers 1st XV were on call to defend Hurlingham fortress against a Welwyn team sitting bottom of the league with something to prove. Few of the present boys were part of the squad that lost to them both times last season, and were as eager, as Mitch on a night out, to make amends.

With the rain spitting down, it was up to Ben Hatton’s little quads to get the game under way. With his first game back from injury, nerves must have been a plenty as the kick-off was fluffed. Scrum to Welwyn, middle of the pitch. Time for the boys to square off. The scrum held its own, which for some reason was a surprise to the Hammers backs, as they were split across the pitch. Welwyn ran a set piece, going straight through the formidable centre Hammer pairing of Waldron and Hooper, which led to a try under the sticks. Some say missed tackle – ‘Tomatoe/Tomato’.

Not the ideal start Hammers were looking for.

With a better restart, Hammers started to get into the game, and putting on the pressure. Welwyns game plan was evident, keep the ball down in the Hammers half. Little did they realise, Zac was throwing darts that the Ally Pally crowd would have been screaming “One Hundred and Eighty” for. The ferocious Hammers pack assembled into their trademark maul, which the opposition couldn’t handle. Penalties gave way which the Hammers did not capitalise on until, Joe was given a crack at goal, which he slotted between the posts. 3 points. Hammers were in the game.

More pressure followed and the trusted boot of Joe put Hammers in the corner. Hammer forwards assembled, and were going over the line but impeded by a side entry.  Penalty try. Hammers take the lead, and there they would stay.

Some loose kicking into the hands of our Asian-Persuasion winger JLO who was allowed counter, hand-off and make yards got Hammers good fielding position. Taylor ran some good lines, not in the direction his nose was pointing but actually in fact straight. As he made another break, with plenty of support players around him to make the easy pass, he decided to choose the harder option and grubbers one in behind, only for the young Benson to pounce on it over the line. Another try, and Hammers started to take control.

Kick off came deep and caught by the try-scorer Benson, who ran straight back at them, making good yards until he offloaded to Captain fantastic who benefited from running a superb support line. Like a scene from a safari, Josh gallivanting as graceful as a giraffe being chased down by a pack of wolves. The giraffe prevailed. Another try. Only one more try needed for the bonus.

With momentum fully on the side of Hammers, more breaks ensued, and strong carries from the likes of Steve, and Zander. Another dazzling break from Jlo creating a two on one opportunity. Man drawn, and pass given, only the try line beckoned, but ball dropped. Surely, classic Jordan was on the pitch, but it was in fact Joe the butcher.

Half time 22-7

With all the pressure mounting on the Welwyn side, they didn’t help themselves when referee had to issue Taylor’s favourite card to one of their players for a swinging arm. Hammers did not relent. Joes ‘out-of-hand’ kicking technique named the helicopter, kept the pressure on, and kept the travelling side deep down in their own half.

Hammers then forced their way into the Welwyn 22 looking for that bonus point. Whilst the backs stood there pretty as can be, screaming for the ball to come out to them, the mouldy forwards were having none of it. All their hard work, they wanted the bragging points for themselves and kept picking and going. With one final push, they managed to get over the line. Another try. Bonus point secured, and surely the total five pointer.

Hammers stamped down their authority on the game, with the human hinge, and club captain himself Rogan making carries (not yards), and being a nuisance at the breakdown. This lead to another break into Welwyn twenty-two, and another assist, in as many games, from the lion heart, Alex, as he passed out of the tackle following a quick pick and go to Ben. Five points guaranteed for Hammers but they weren’t finished just yet.

Whilst the LA Rams were in London for the weekend, Ben decided to show off his own NFL skills with a pass straight from the scrum to Jlo on the blind side, who ran, and danced his way over the line. Touchdown! Half the boys back where the scrum occurred, it was a bit of disbelief what had happened. Referee looked over at the touch-judge, but no complaints there. Brady would have been proud of that one.

Full time 44-7

Hammers 1s get the win and the bonus point!

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Stumbling out the Rylston many pints (of water) down the Hammers headed to Hurlingham Park inspired to show why we would have been playing in the world cup ourselves if it weren’t for the teenage rugby injuries that cut all our pro careers short.

A poor turn out of tins for the post game celebrations was a bad start to the day, not improved much when Coach ‘Loves Cowboys’ Mark gave us responsibility for the warm up, only to realise how clueless we were and renege on that idea 5 minutes in. Things could only get better, and they would have to, as all Coach wanted after two back to back draws was a clean 5 pointer.

With Josh ‘Leader Legend’ Mclean enjoying some R&R on the sideline, Rogan ‘The Human Hinge’ took on the mantle of rallying the boys to the cause, avoiding the use of dumb statements about spiders completely. It was Rogan’s reminder that this was the last time we would have to assuage Alex ‘Supersize’ Gee’s delusions of speed that the hype got real, leading to a motivated team hitting the park.

As the match kicked off it became clear that Letchworth hadn’t received the memo about our clean 5 pointer and decided to make a game of it. Some hard-fought phases of possession for both sides followed, with the early stalemate eventually being broken by a Joe ‘Sweet Caroline’ Carolan penalty kick.

Having got the scoreboard going Hammers continued to apply pressure, with patience and well executed forward plays setting up a good platform for Joe to add to his tally, stepping inside a rushed defence and touching down under the posts for a try and a conversion, setting the score at 10 – 0 with 25 on the clock.

Before the party could get started Letchworth hit back, pinning the Hammers down five metres from our own line for an aggressive session of scrummaging. The scrummaging went on for way too long, eventually being broken up when the ref partook in some ball on ball action. With the resumption of play Sam ‘Vahaamahina’ White swiftly got sent off for 10 on the naughty step following yet another scrum (Some say he was guilty of simply wanting it too much, some say his desire and aggression got the better of him, some say he was high, some say he simply let Swaino down.). Finally the scrummaging stopped, but at the cost of a try as the Letchworth backs executed a first phase line break 10 metres out, rounding off the half with a conversion.

Half-time score Hammers 10, Letchworth 7.

With all to play for, 1 man still sitting out trying to work out why he got a yellow, and the clean 5 pointer clearly at risk, the second half got under way to a tense hush amongst the Hurlingham faithful. A few more minutes of 14 on 15 rugby happened, before Alex ‘Probably the best Alex’ Hart got released by Carolan down the 15m channel, executing with sublime grace and swiftness a ‘Hart-Stopping’ show and go, draw and give combo straight out of Mark’s dreams to put Taylor ‘Oh wait I’m fine’ Williams in for a much-needed try (unconverted).

Even more rugby happened, and the game started to get loose as both sides’ attacks started to open up tired defences. Letchworth ultimately broke back with a nice try off a good line break and supporting runs, bringing the game back to within a score at 15 – 12. Letchworth still didn’t let up, and tested Hammers further, eventually going for a penalty to level the game.

Catching a break as the penalty missed its mark, the Hammers showed strong resolve to take back the momentum of the game, making good attacks and pressing deep into the opposition’s half. With strong Letchworth defence nevertheless persisting, it took a beautiful lofted miss pass to unlock it, unnervingly caught and touched down by James ‘Vice‘ Lo on the wing to bring the score to 22 – 12 with a great Carolan conversion.

With time running out for a fourth try the Hammers kept up the attacking intent, an inspired Sam ‘Definitely wishes he was Swaino’ White made amends and put Taylor through a gap in the Letchworth midfield. Taylor ‘yellow’s my favourite colour’ Williams did the rest, channelling his inner Beauden to chip over the cover defence before collecting the bounce and dotting down for the bonus-point try (converted).

The last few minutes got more expansive than anyone wanted as Rogan did his best impression of a 15 covering deep in the back field, leaving no one in doubt as to why he belongs in the front row. Letchworth kept on keeping on however, testing us until the end when a marginal forward pass denied them a well worked consolation try. Final whistle blown, final score 29 – 12, a good game all round, cheers to Letchworth.

With the 5 points in the bank pushing Hammers to 4th in the league the ritual sounds of super fives could be heard across Fulham long into the night. Long live Hammers.

Hammers continue the tradition…and draw 13-13 against Old Cranleighans

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And so, the glorious Hammers arrived in unfamiliar territory.  Is this a hockey club? Asked a bemused (and nameless) Hammers 2nd rower.

And indeed it was, but also a rugby club, and football, golf, netball, shooting, sailing, squash, and tennis club as well. A swiss army knife of a place.

Sharing a changing room with another team, the mood was confused. Anticipation watered down by the bucketing rain- the first of the 19/20 season.

After the warmup, with the wise and direct words of coach Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson ringing in their ears, the boys in red, white, and blue set about the task of a cup run.

Immediately, they came under a barrage of fire from a well drilled, aggressive OC’s pack. Taking a solid few minutes of pressure, eventually the hammers cracked- a penalty given away in front of the sticks. 3-0 to OC’s.

The kick-off went deep, and immediately the privately educated chaps of deepest Surrey were on the offensive again. In all, hammers spent circa 15 minutes under the cosh to begin the game. That the only try conceded amidst all this time defending came out on OC’s left wing was a blessing. Conversion missed, 8-0 to OC’s.

20 minutes in, Hammersmith finally got their hands on the ball. Powerful runs from the likes of Steve ‘first name’ John up the middle, complemented with the whirling feet and pace of SJ ‘blessed’ Mahon out wide, got the SW6 lads into some strong attacking positions. Inaccurate lineout work and some tricky handling conditions delayed the build-up play, but finally Zac ‘not Phul’ Halliday connected with Jordan ‘nameless’ Abbot, and the hammers got a driving maul working over to the right hand side of OC’s tryline.

Mitchell ‘Mitchell’ Mitchell (Lewis) stepped up and nervelessly slotted the conversion, 8-7 the score.

“Come on OC’s” screamed a local fan, for the thousandth, and not the last, time of the day, but the rest of the half remained scoreless- not through lack of application, but as a result of the deteriorating conditions.

The second half got underway, and honestly not much happened for the first 15 minutes. It rained, hammers dropped the ball. It rained some more, OC’s dropped the ball. The ref blew the whistle, both teams blew chances, etc.

Suddenly, Hammers took the lead. Pragmatic phase play in OC’s half led to a penalty that Joe ‘middlesexy’ Carolan slotted. Nervelessly. as all successful kicks are (without a thesaurus at least). 8-10, the visitors in front for the first time.

This was followed in reasonably quick succession by another penalty, also belted through by Joe ‘JC’ Carolan. 8-13, and the Fulham men started to believe.

Both teams continued to go hammer and tongs at each other. Jack ‘pooper’ Hooper make good yards, Cillian ‘Friday drinks’ Waldron put in some shuddering hits, Sam ‘cambridge’ White made strong runs and threw a couple of cute offloads- Alex ‘2nd best Alex’ Hart the beneficiary making excellent yardage. But, with inaccuracy still present, and the OC’s gaining the upper hand in the scrum, the game slowly progressed.

Suddenly, the scores levelled. Alex ‘Jackos best mate’ Gee gave away a tenuous penalty (in the authors opinion), OC’s kicked, and Ed ‘great education’ James mate an absolute hash of fielding it. From the resulting scrum, OC’s used their only area of superiority to get over the line. The kick was missed, 13 all.

The game went to extra time. Both teams dug in, emptied the tank, and scrapped in the muddy conditions.

But no one could do much of anything, and after 100 minutes of back and forth rugby the scores remained tied.

A check with the rules official, OC’s win on countback, 2 tries scored to 1. A heart-breaking loss for Hammersmith, but always gracious in defeat, genuine congratulations for the victors.

Hammers MOTM and debutant Zac ‘pints’ Halliday absolutely smashed the pint race, so there’s a victory in there somewhere.

Yet another draw against Ye Old Enemy

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A date that has been firmly locked in the diary, Hammersmith & Fulham had been targeting this fixture since pre-season. After a stuttering start to the league campaign and a strong showing the week before against Hampstead at home, we made the short trip up the river to near-neighbours Chiswick who were top of the league standings going into the game.

After some honest words from Coach Jackson, H&F made their best start to a game this season by holding on to the ball for multiple phases and strong running lines from Nick Manning and Taylor Williams. A kick to touch from a penalty resulted in a strong driving maul towards the Chiswick line. A final carry off the back from Steve John, who is enjoying a strong first season with the club, resulted in an early try for H&F which was converted by Joe Carolan.

Pete Benson collected the kick off and after generating quick ball, Williams put James Lo into space who went over in the left corner. Carolan missed the conversion with the score 12-0 to H&F. Chiswick’s back 5 in the pack began to get into the game by slowing down Hammers ball at ruck time and making life difficult for scrum half Mitch Lewis. H&F managed to maintain possession and as half time approached they forced an unnecessary wide pass picked off excellently by the Chiswick wing who ran over 50m to touch down under posts for an easy conversion.

The kick off was brilliantly collected by Williams who made good yards up the touch line. Chiswick’s scramble defence forced a kickable penalty for Carolan who converted. H&F went into half time 15-7 up.

Galvanised by their late try before half time, Chiswick began to take advantage of sloppy Hammers decision making and indiscipline. Their fly half began to play them into the right places on the pitch and soon closed the gap with a penalty kick after 10 minutes. Their purple patch continued with a kick to the corner and strong driving maul from a line out that resulted in their second try of the game. Despite the missed conversion off the posts, Chiswick were now level at 15-15.

H&F were unable to find the fluency they had in the first half and Chiswick now had a strong foothold in the game. Another visit to the H&F 22 and multiple phases later ended with a Chiswick score out wide, which was converted giving the home side a 22-15 lead with 15 minutes remaining. It was then up to the Hammers to find an answer to save something from the afternoon. With the final play of the game, Williams fed tight head prop Jacob Poulton – after breaking a couple of Chiswick tackles, Poulton offloaded back to Williams who touched down just to the right of the posts. Carolan stepped up to convert and the game ended 22-22.

The second draw in 5 games between these sides and two valuable league points considering the competitive nature of London 2 NW so far this season. We are away this Saturday to Old Cranleighans in the Intermediate Cup.

 

Man of the Match: Steve John

Tin Man: Mitch Lewis

Debut: Ross Anderson

Hammers get their 1st win of the season!

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Japan’s win against Ireland set the premise for what was to be a great day of rugby at Hurlingham Park. The Japanese house music played in the changing rooms before the game served only as motivation for the squad to correct the errors of the last two weeks.

The game started with 10 minutes of heavy pressure from Hampstead attacking from deep in their half and using the wide spaces well. Some good one-on-one tackles from Taylor Williams at fullback prevented a brace of tries early on. Hampstead managed to cross the line in the left-hand corner after a flowing backs move, only for Mitch Lewis to stop the ball from being grounded. The referee deemed the tackle to be high and gave a penalty try.

The Hammers fought back into the game through some dominant play by the forwards which eventually earnt a penalty in the opposition 22 and kicking it to touch. The resulting lineout was well won, and a subsequent maul was finished off by hooker Phil Lord, bringing the scores closer to 5-7. Hampstead recognised the threat posed by the maul and were hesitant to engage the Hammers in this for the remainder of the match.

The Hammers’ scrum remained solid throughout the game which provided a good base for the second try. Angus Lean picked from the base of a scrum 5 metres out and barrelled his way over. Joe Carolan kicked the conversion and the home team finished the half 12-7 up.

The second 40’ was dominated by gritty defence and yellow cards. A good press from the Hammers’ defence allow Hampstead little space in attack and resulted in the early part of this half being played in the visitors’ twenty-two. Mitch Lewis capitalised on this pressure to go over the line after a series of pick and goes from the forwards.

At 17-7 the tide seemed to turn and Hampstead pushed their way back into the game. Tim Williams was yellow carded for a high tackle resulting in 10 minutes of frantic, scrambled yet resilient defence from the home team. Just as Tim was preparing to come back on Taylor Williams momentarily forgot that he had to remain on his feet at a ruck and was penalised 5 metres from Hammers’ line. The referee felt the play to be cynical and while Tim was welcomed back onto the pitch, Taylor was sent for a 10-minute rest. The one-man adva

ntage finally paid off with the Hampstead scrum-half going over in the corner. Conversion successful: 17-14.

The home team controlled the game well from this point on and played the majority of the game from the opposition half. With four minutes to go, an overthrow by the opposition at the lineout allowed Steve John to go over for the fourth try and all-important bonus point.

Final score: Hammersmith & Fulham 22 – 14 Hampstead

10 tries for the 3s in a big win

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Hammersmith 3s travelled away to Hampstead in good spirits off the back of a couple of good wins already this season. Blustering winds and rain meant that this was going to be a tough afternoons work.

Hammers kicked off into the wind and didn’t take them long to the establish forward dominance with plenty of good carries. The forward graft paid off and with some fantastic support play, Hammers’ made it over in the corner. From these early exchanges it became clear Hammers’ could control the tempo of the game with the ball in hand, and with a few nice plays off 9 & 10 Hammers’ Centre partnership and wide men were starting to cause damage and starting running riot. Hammers’ fly half managed to engineer a wonderful bit of space for Billy Rylance who was put through 1 on 1 with the full back who unfortunately knocked it on in contact.

Hammersmith went in 27 – 0 at the break.

Running out for the 2nd half spirits were high, with the wind behind them, Hammers’ ran in a few more tries, through big Billy causing havoc at 8, and with the notable speed shown from the left-wing, Hampstead clearly not enjoying them spread the ball wide. Kicking conditions made things very difficult but Hammersmith & Fulham proved very good with ball in hand running in 10 tries.

 

Hammersmith & Fulham 2s put in a performance

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For their second league fixture of the season, the Hammers travelled to London Cornish looking for another convincing win off the back of the 72-7 game vs Grasshoppers.

Warm up essentially consisted of walking the 20 miles between the changing rooms and the pitch and both teams were ready for what would be a competitive and physical game. It only took a few minutes for the Hammers to understand that Cornish’s backrow, averaging 6’2’’, would be the core of their attacking structure, facing a tough but vertically challenged 7-8 combination made of Ash and Jack Small.

Strong carries by the Cornish and lack of discipline from the Hammers gave the Cornish’s kicker an opportunity to get on the scoreboard and after 10 minutes the score was 3-0 for the locals. Good pressure on the following kick off allowed the Hammers to settle in the opposition’s half and eventually resulted in a penalty 25m in front of the posts, duly converted by skipper and fly-half Jack Davies. 3-3 after about 15 minutes.

London Cornish spent most of the first half ball in hand but were consistently denied by a red brick wall. On the other hand, H&F made the best of a few opportunities and a couple of phases after Ashton Mitchell sat down his opposite number, much to the surprise of all involved, Man of the Match Rob Fox ran a superb line and brought the Hammers back into the opposition half, taking advantage of a Cornish’s pair of centres more interested in interceptions than tackles.

As the Hammers got closer to the try line, they were rewarded by a penalty less than 10 meters in front of the posts. Taking everyone by surprise, including his teammates, Jordan Abbott tapped the ball before running into three defenders and scored the first try of the game, converted by Jack Davies. Cornish 3 – 10 HFRFC.

Determined to get back into the game, London Cornish bucked themselves up and set up a siege in Hammersmith’s 22’s for the remainder of the first half. Succession of penalties led to Ollie Rea being yellow-carded for a side entry on a maul. Great 7-man scrum and good pressure from scrum-half Louis van Langenhove forced Cornish’s no.8 to spill the ball out of the scrum and half-time was called before the local team could cross the white wash.

Second half started with a few amends in the backline, Slade Buchner having to move from second row to outside centre after the 1s drafted Ross Anderson. HFRFC quickly gained a penalty 25m on the right of the posts and Jack Davies didn’t miss the opportunity to increase the visitors’ lead. Cornish 3 – 13 HFRFC.

After spending the first half playing one-pass rugby off the nine, London Cornish decided the play wide and managed to make a break on the wing and enter the Hammers’ 22s. HFRFC’s infamous lack of discipline eventually offered a penalty 15m in front of the posts and opposition’s fullback had no problem kicking the ball over the bar. London Cornish 6 – HFRFC 13.

50 minutes into the game and Hammersmith and Fulham finally managed to play their game. Strong carries by Rob Fox and Sam White combined to a few penalties in Hammers’ favour moved the game into Cornish’s 22s. Sam White, again, used the momentum created by a good driving maul to get the Hammers on the try line and a couple of phases later, Ed Milner got the ball off the nine, bumped into a couple of defenders and scored under the posts. Try easily converted by Jack Davies (6/6 off the tee). London Cornish 6 – HFRFC 20.

As the Cornish were running after the score, the game became more open to the benefit of Hammers’ back three who thought this moment would never come.

Following another powerful driving maul in the opposition’s half, scrum-half Louis van Langenhove broke the defensive line in the middle of the park before offloading the ball to captain Jack Davies who then played wide for full-back Sam Smith. Another offload to this weekend’s second row/outside centre Slade Buchner and Chad’s second favourite brother put the ball down between the posts. Jack Davies added the conversion. London Cornish 6 – 27 HFRFC.

Few minutes later, a good call by Rob Fox allowed Sam N. to go for a run along the sideline before passing the ball inside to Sam S. Captain Jack picked the ball up, stepped the last defender and rewarded himself with a try underneath the posts before converting it. London Cornish 6 – 34 HFRFC.

Much to their credit, London Cornish didn’t give up whilst loosehead Sam White demonstrated why front-rows should never kick the ball. Last five minutes saw Ollie Rea being sent off for a second yellow card after he deliberately prevented the opposition scrum-half from tapping a penalty which could have resulted in a try. One minute later, it was Sam White’s turn to be yellow-carded for kicking the ball in a ruck, five meters away from the tryline. With two Hammer’s front rowers in the bin, London Cornish logically chose the scrum option. Little did they know that Jordan Abbott’s secret dream was to be a loosehead prop and as the Cornish found themselves under huge pressure from a 13-man defensive line, the ball was lost in contact and Hammersmith won the game without conceding a try.

Final score: London Cornish 6 – 34 Hammersmith & Fulham RFC.