Hammers 1sts disappoint against KCS

 

On a sunny September Saturday london’s friendliest club made their way to a club from London- KCS Old Boys on this occasion. Off the back of a promising win against Camberley on debut in London 1; the mood echoed the weather and after a warm-up where line-outs were hit and backs moves were executed, the boys were confident of a result. Unfortunately, this was probably as good as the mood got on the day and to be honest there was not much of any note to be taken from the following 80 minutes.

The early exchanges were dominated by the Hammers consistency- consistently not clearing rucks, dropping balls and defensive clangers. The Old Boys somehow managed to capitalise on this fine start by the Hammers with a one out runner splitting the centres and giving the scorers their first work of the day. Coach Mark introducing the home crowd to some subtleties of the English Language on the touchline. 5-0 .Before long they had doubled this to 10. Can’t quite remember how this happened but it was probably a catch and drive or something; that’s this new set-piece thing that teams in London 1 are trying out this year. I’m sure we’ll crack it eventually.

Rarer than a steak fried for a minute either side- some clean ball from the scrum facilitated by Andrew Regan pushing and shoving allowed Ross Anderson to unleash the backs. This clean ball, coupled with another London 1 winger gazing longingly at Tim Russell’s luscious locks gave just enough time and space for Tim to break down the edge. A supportive line from Marshall Mcleod allowed the Scot to gallop over under the sticks; a rare highpoint for the Hammers in a largely turgid affair. The Caravan added the extras. 10-7.

Penalties were exchanged leaving the score 13-10 at half-time. Leaving all to play for in the second half.

It’s fair to say there was a rocket of sorts shot up the backsides of the lads at half time. Whilst defence was tightened -led by the ascendant Harry Scarr- and phases were sort of put together, there really isn’t much to write for the following 40 minutes. Interest was piqued for the home crowd when a quick tap from the Old Boys outside half identifying Hammers only having a local Tory MP and a Hobbit on the right hand side. They subsequently went coast to coast and recorded the only score of the second half. 20-10.

The rest of the game was largely played out with scrum after scrum largely to the dismay of the backs and 99% of people watching. The arousal of the 6 front rowers going hammer and tong was palpable and probably marks a highpoint on a pretty rough day at the office. Final score 20-10.

It would be hard to write a match report without including our departing leader Josh Mcclean. In the words of Salt-N-Pepa, ‘what a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man’. Arguably not the send off worthy of a great man, but it’s fair to say what the club has achieved with him steering the ship is nothing short of remarkable. All the best up in Sheffield Big guy! Some significant boots to fill for Joe Caravan, I personally cannot wait to hear his version of ‘nothing from me’ when asked if he has anything to add at training.

The Hammers face a tough trip to Medway in 2 weeks time; this will be a real indicator of character and the boys will be looking for a response.