A Game Not For The Fainthearted
Rugby result; Chiswick 24 Hemel Hempstead 9
|
Both teams started this match with a view to keeping warm in the miserable wet conditions by strenuous tackling, and no quarter was asked for or given. Vociferous complaints started early, with the visitors objecting to a “dummy throw” at the first lineout, and with four yellow cards to come, the game was not for the faint of heart.
After an unproductive period in midfield, with Hemel just shading the exchanges, Chiswick finally got an attack going, only for Tom Steer to knock on. Andy Ibbersen had a go, with a good dummy, but was soon stopped. Oliver Snook then produced the perfect long cross-kick for Steer, who made good ground before being stopped just short of the line. Snook had followed up, and was on hand to take a pass from Steer and score in the corner. The kick was just wide.
Hemel came straight back with a penalty goal, but Chiswick probed again
with Snook’s accurate touch kicking. A bad Hemel throw gave Chiswick a chance, but the ball was knocked on. Hemel kept trying, unsuccessfully, to run the ball out of their 22, strangely, in the conditions, since they finally produced a good long clearance kick causing Chiswick problems.
The nippy Hemel fly half was then involved in a good break, with Chiswick forced into last ditch defence. The Chiswick pack then achieved a brilliant heel against the head, with Ryno Lopes breaking away with the ball. He was almost instantly submerged however, the ball was knocked
on, and Hemel gained a penalty, which they kicked, to take the lead, after twenty five minutes. Eight minutes later, Chiswick regained the lead, the result of a driving maul from a five metre lineout. The versatile Sam Biss, hooker for the day, got the touchdown, and Snook the conversion.
Chiswick gained a couple of early five metre lineouts in the second half, resulting tamely in a reset and a knock-on. Ten minutes in, and Hemel slotted another penalty. Three points in it, and Chiswick have the advantage of an extra player. They have had a lot of unproductive time in the Hemel 22, indicative of a good defence by the visitors. Yet another good touch kick by Snook gave Chiswick another chance, and this time the powerful Simon Allen-Clarke got possession at the tail of the lineout, but couldn’t quite make it to the line.
In the very confusing next passage of play in the Hemel 22 Hemel picked up two more yellow cards and Chiswick were awarded a penalty try. The visitors seemed quite happy with fewer players, and kept playing a good passing game. Chiswick’s cause was not helped when centre Tom Harper, who had put in more tackles than most, got a hamstring injury.
Steer appeared to get a second try after good work with Snook down the wing, but the referee called them back for a scrum. With time running out, scrum half Harry Cox made a dash for the left corner, but was pulled into touch five metres out. Hemel tried to kick the ball clear, but made only a couple of metres due to Marc Copperwheat’s charge down attempt.
Chiswick won the ensuing lineout, and after a couple of ineffective attempts, Allen-Clarke showed everyone how it was done, muscling his way over through some tackles. The kick failed, but the bonus point was secure, and London Welsh are only a single point ahead.
Chiswick team:- Barkham, Biss, Cooper, Copperwheat, Allen-Clarke,
Bryan, Brook, Lopes, Cox, Snook, Steer, Harper, Farrell, Ibbersen,
Philipson; Ridgeway, Edgson,
October 30, 2019
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
October 30, 2019
