Sledgehammers Leave It Late in Friday Night Thriller Against Wasps Vets
Friday night under the lights saw the Hammersmith & Fulham RFC “Sledgehammers” take on the London Wasps veterans in a contest that somehow managed to be equal parts tactical chess match, physical arm wrestle, and slapstick comedy.
From the opening whistle, the Sledgehammers looked the more threatening of the two sides. Guided expertly by man-of-the-match Simon Doherty at fly-half, Hammers enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory during the first twenty minutes, repeatedly pinning the Wasps deep inside their own 22.
Wave after wave of attack crashed into the black-and-gold defensive wall. Julien Draper, Steve Harrington and Tim Lowdnes carried tirelessly into heavy traffic, but every time it seemed the breakthrough was coming, the Wasps somehow found a turnover or a relieving clearance. Their fly-half possessed a right boot more commonly associated with naval artillery than veterans rugby, and several booming kicks relieved pressure just as the Hammers appeared ready to strike.
Eventually, persistence paid off.
Razor sharp service from Andrew Brennan at scrum-half kept the pace high, and after sustained pressure around the Wasps line, he spotted an opportunity, darted through a gap and sneaked over for the opening try. The first try of the season!
Hammers 5-0.
The lead lasted approximately as long as a New Year’s resolution.
From the restart, what followed can only be described as a masterclass in how not to manage momentum. A messy attempt to catch the kick off was eventually gathered by Hammers, but possession was then promptly donated back to the opposition. Within less than a minute, Wasps had sliced through the defence and crossed for a try of their own, adding the conversion for good measure. The crowd was almost as stunned as the Sledgehammers now standing under the posts
Hammers 5-7 Wasps.
The concession seemed to wake the Sledgehammers from their brief slumber.
Chris Riley at full-back returned one towering clearance with interest, supported by Alex Stimson, J-Lo in the centres and Adam Trehane out wide. Once again Hammers camped inside the opposition 22. Once again Wasps refused to break.
It took another twenty minutes of relentless pressure before the deadlock finally gave way. A slick backs move stretched the defence, and Adam Trehane received the final pass to dive over in the corner.
Hammers 10-7.
Cue déjà vu.
Having worked incredibly hard to reclaim the lead, Hammers immediately repeated the same mistake that had gifted Wasps their earlier score. A fumbled restart, lost possession and a quick shift wide later, Wasps were celebrating beneath the posts.
All that effort undone in a matter of moments.
Hammers 10-14 Wasps.
At half-time,Rogan delivered what witnesses later described as “a justified assessment” from the touchline, emphaising the harder work on the floor to get Brennan quicker ball. Whatever was said worked.
Hammers emerged after the break with renewed purpose. Fresh faces Michael Cook and Ash Mitchell injected energy into the forward pack, while a reshuffle in the backs, including Ed Haynes from the pack moving to centre, gave Simon Doherty greater freedom to pull the strings.
The impact was immediate.
Enter Harry Dunne, with slick hands getting the ball to his silky hands at outside centre and wasted no time introducing himself to the Wasps defence. Running hard and direct, he found a soft shiulder and crossed for a crucial try.
Hammers 15-14.
Unfortunately, success proved a dangerous thing.
Perhaps sensing victory too early, the Sledgehammers briefly switched off, and Wasps ruthlessly punished them. Their fly-half’s cannon once again pinned Hammers deep in their own half. A loose ball eventually found a Wasps winger, who crossed out wide.
Worse was yet to come.
Trying to escape pressure, Andrew Brennan produced a box kick that will undoubtedly feature in post-match discussions for years to come. Unfortunately, it travelled in roughly the wrong direction. The grateful Wasps scrum-half recovered possession and quickly shifted the ball to his midfield runners. Nick Turner somehow prevented an immediate score with a desperate tackle, but the recycled possession eventually punched straight through the middle for another converted try.
Suddenly, the defending champions found themselves staring down the barrel.
From one point ahead to two tries behind.
Game on.
To their enormous credit, the Sledgehammers refused to fold.
Doherty continued kicking intelligently into space, while J-Lo provided fresh legs and a surging run down the left touchline that finally carried play back into the Wasps 22.
Then came the moment of the night.
Making his veterans debut, Mitchell spotted a loose ball at the back of a ruck. Seeing space and no Wasp’s guard defence, he picked and went. Twenty-two metres from the line, with defenders closing from every angle, he backed himself.
One step.
Two steps.
Acceleration.
Separation.
Moments later he was touching down beneath the posts. Dohers kicks his only coversion of the night to cut the deficit to just four points.
With fewer than five minutes remaining, belief returned.
The restart was gathered securely by Harrington, who was absolutely determined not to provide the opposition with another free scoring opportunity. Ed Haynes linked with Tommy Hayes, whose trademark charge up the middle brought teammates flocking to the breakdown. Chris Riley, Alex Stimson and James Horrex hammered away through the centre as phase after phase built inexorably towards the Wasps line.
Two minutes remained.
The Hammers were inside the opposition 10-metre line.
The Wasps defence, so resilient all evening, was finally beginning to creak.
Wave after wave of attack followed. Bodies flew into rucks. Voices grew hoarse from the touchline. Somewhere in the distance, several cardiac events were narrowly avoided.
And eventually, after one final spell of relentless pressure, the breakthrough arrived. J-Lo, crossing our wide in the 5 metre channel. The boys are up by a single point!
Now all they had to do was survive.
Simple.
Except it wasn’t.
The final two minutes descended into what can only be described as peak “squeaky bum time.”
The restart was recovered and booted deep, but Wasps secured their own lineout and began launching one final assault from inside their own half. Possession changed hands multiple times as both sides desperately tried to force the decisive moment.
A high tackle from Ollie Rae, despite his remarkably passionate insistence to the contrary, was judged by everyone present to be, in technical rugby terminology, “very, very high indeed.” The resulting penalty gave Wasps one final opportunity.
Choosing ambition over caution, the visitors declined the easier territorial option and instead ran the ball hard.
As the clock ticked into the red, both teams continued to fling bodies into contact. The ball changed hands yet again before one final collision produced a terrifying cry of agony from Ollie Rae. For a brief moment, players and spectators alike feared a catastrophic injury involving multiple bones and several months of rehabilitation.
As it transpired, he’d merely been comprehensively winded.
Fortunately for Hammers, the stoppage was enough.
The final whistle blew.
The Sledgehammers had somehow survived.
The scoreboard mattered, but perhaps not as much as the occasion itself. Against a tough and well-organised Wasps side, the Hammers showed resilience, character and a refusal to give in when the game seemed to be slipping away. New faces made impressive contributions, old faces rediscovered skills they claimed had never left them, and for eighty minutes a group of veterans briefly wound the clock back.
Most importantly, there were smiles everywhere after the final whistle.
And in veterans rugby, that usually means you’ve got it exactly right.
