Old Colfeian’s 2nd XV vs Medway 3rd XV 26.10.24
A midday meet at the club saw Killian O’Malley’s mighty Zafira filled to the brim with personnel and match shirts actually on board this time, that and some dodgy denim clothing items, mentioning no names in particular *cough* Alfred.
The boys arrived around 1pm eager for their second away win and first consecutive win of the season. It would be more than fair to say the pitch selection was the worst of a bad bunch; short, narrow, steep and about as flat as a teenager’s face, perhaps a deliberate choice by the opposition to stifle our youthful team renowned for pace with the likes of Tyreece and Harry Taylor.
Despite Guest-Coach Jed Wylie’s best efforts, the warmup in true OC’S fashion was a bit lacklustre. A quick run through of moves and calls for our two new backs of the day in Morgan Smith and Tobi O’Brien topped with plenty of dropped balls all round and we were ready to go. An interesting pre-match talk from the referee made it clear that some of the rules, akin to that of the groundsman’s paintjob, were going to be a little up for interpretation.
Thankfully, starting with the downhill advantage we made sure to land on the right side of the referee, quickly winning penalties and knock on advantages from our early onset pressure. The forwards scrummaged excellently all game, especially against the odds up hill in the second half. It wasn’t before long, following a deep kick to touch, that OC’s would see their first try. Excellent lineout throwing from Frank Blythe which would persist for the entirety of the match lead to Reuben Adebambo peeling off a ruck for a try just inside the 15-metre channel.
It wasn’t too long after that we would see our next try. With some solid structural phase play around the halfway line, Colfe’s were able to open space for territory kicks and line breaks putting Medway under more pressure. Before you knew it Bill Ramdhan is scoring in a near identical position after David Edwards continued to put accurate kicks into the corner.
Events seemed to be repeating themselves with OC’s finding themselves once again in Medway’s back left corner, only this time, a pre-called move off the back of a collapsed maul saw SJ lift a perfectly weighted pop pass for Harry Taylor slicing through the defence with ease. After a successful conversion OC’s ended the half 17-0 up feeling pretty confident.
Although holding a reasonably healthy lead, we had definitely left some points out on the pitch with continuous unnecessary handling errors from loose offloads. Coach Wylie made sure to get a clear message across to the boys, setting two main focuses as we headed into the second half.
Despite Tom Walkers’ now signature storming carries off of kick off, we found ourselves conceding first in the second half. A discipline slip from DOTD George Whichello saw a reversed penalty which put Medway in for their first try in the opposite corner. The returning kick off saw Medway find a weak shoulder after a handful of phases and almost scoring but newly christened winger Morgan Smith made an excellent covering tackle to stop them just short. Unfortunately, a few phases later Medway would find themselves once again over the line on the opposing side of the pitch.
The game continued in a similar manner, scrappy breakdowns were cleaned up well by scrum half Leon Atkins and the forwards continued to carry strongly but albeit with little support at times. The hill was proving an issue, denying a 50 22 attempt with the ball rolling back down the hill and out, it was seeming difficult to maintain the pressure applied in the first half. A slightly disjointed back three and some slipped tackles saw Medway breaking the line again on a couple occasions, running in tries from close to 50 metres out and taking the lead for the first time in the match.
A couple injuries and lack of backs replacements made for a young centre partnership of Harry Hodgkiss and SJ for the remaining 20 minutes of the game. With both being vital players in our mauling lineout it certainly made for an interesting set up at times however OC’s exited well and with the some well worked penalties made their way back up the pitch. Another kick from a penalty put us 5 metres out and was followed by a few short crash balls and Bill Ramdhan spotting a pick and go opportunity scoring just inside the 15-metre channel. Try converted and OC’s were narrowly back in the lead, however it wouldn’t take long for Medway to reply with a try of their own right in the corner after peeling off the back of a scrum 15 metres out.
With 8 minutes to go there was only a few points in it but OC’s found themselves once again chasing the game. A handful of the boys had travelled to Medway a few weeks prior with the 1st XV and had already experienced a halftime lead loss at these grounds. Having conceded 5 tries to 1 in this second half we didn’t want history to repeat itself and the boys dug deep. Soldiering our way up the pitch once again, a couple wide crash balls drew in the defence and then it was quick hands off the back of the ruck that led to an athletic one-handed diving finish in the top righthand corner from Tobi O’Brien. Had he chosen not to pass in a 2 on 1 situation with Tyreece outside? maybe, but the finish was so good even the opposition winger couldn’t deny the try.
Despite his 2 watches, when asking the referee how long was left, he refused to give a straight answer and it was clear the job wasn’t quite done just yet. A ripped ball off kick off meant Medway once again found themselves with a scrum on our 22. Forwards once again applying pressure in the scrum and good line speed in the backs forced a handling error from Medway and that was it. Definitely a proud moment for the team but also one of relief, it was now off for this years Katzenjammers’ social and this time it was double denim, heading back to the club with a win under the belt made it just that bit better.
Medway 27 – 31 Old Colfeians
Tries:
Bill Ramdhan x2, Reuben Adebambo, Harry Taylor, Tobi O’Brien
MOTM:
Reuben Adebambo
DOTD:
George Whichello
