Match Reports: January Friendlies

By Millie Ross

The Streatham-Croydon senior sides start 2018 as they mean to go on!

“Men’s 1st & 2nd XV 57- 12 Beccehamians RFC Men’s 3rd XV 0 - 27 Racal Decca RFC Ladies 1st XV 63 - 0 Romford Ravens”

Streatham-Croydon senior sides kicked off the New Year with a few friendly matches to brush off the cobwebs and get their bodies and minds in gear for a big second half to the season.

After a bitterly cold week, all teams were prepared for classic January fixtures. The men’s combined 1st and 2nd team took on Beccehamians RFC at home, and with the pitch being marked out in the morning by groundskeeper Rhi Frant Road was looking great to welcome the first match of 2018.

The game featured all the hallmarks of a game after a short break. Cold hands led to a few early handling errors from both sides, but the holiday eating had evidently given the forwards the advantage and Streatham were able to dominate in the scrum. This gave a reasonable amount of turnover ball, and a great platform for the backs to execute well. Max “Thor” Thomason put in a characteristic shift in the front row including scoring a try of his own, and we send our condolences to the Beccs winger who tried to take him on in a one-on-one resulting in a dislocated shoulder.

Whilst slightly tarnished by a yellow card for Streatham’s Josh Burke, and a red for the opposition, SCRFC managed to keep their cool and the backs were able to finish the opportunities as they came. The game was well managed by Man of the Match Rolstone Langmead who was able to utilise both the power and pace of the Streatham wingers. Ibby put in a performance on the wing that we’ve come to expect from him, finishing a try with clinical accuracy. Similarly Lamont scored a brace and also created plenty of space for his support runners, requiring 3 or 4 players to bring him down. The try scored by pint sized full back Phil Maytom was unfortunately diminished somewhat by his calling a mark from a grubber kick, on which we’ll blame the break from rugby. The final score was 57-12 to SCRFC. Abdul’s Army took on our friends at Racal Decca RFC and lost 27-0.

The women had been due to play a Cup fixture against St Francis RFC, who unfortunately had to pull out during the week due to lack of numbers. Thanks to some frantic attempts by the committee, a friendly fixture was arranged last minute against Romford and Gidea Park Ravens, who play in Championship 2 - the league above Streatham-Croydon Ladies.
Prepared for a tough game, SCRFC came firing out of the blocks and put early pressure on the visiting team. The forwards had to work hard against a strong pack to create a platform for the backs to work their magic. The opposition, in the absence of much of their back line (many of whom represent Essex at county level) were unable to contain the pace that the ladies were showing. Combined with excellent support play from the back 3, Streatham took their opportunities to score well.

Line breaks by back row Amy Allen, second row Paige Abbs and centre Helena Solomon were extremely well supported by outside centre Grace Moore and winger Erin Fairley who managed to score a hat-trick each. Number 8 Mel Laidlaw-Anderson was on flying form as always, pulling in the defenders and making a characteristic break down the blind channel to score. After a brilliant break by Helena Solomon who had moved into the back row from inside centre, quick ball from scrum half Catherine Kingston allowed Fly Half Millie Ross to set up speedster winger Hannah Goddard for the final try of the game. Full back Dani Davies was on point from the tee as usual, and despite the stiff wind slotted 6 conversions in addition to a try of her own, and Laidlaw-Anderson added 3 of her own conversions to bring the full time score to 63-0.

Whilst the ladies managed to keep a clean sheet through some valiant cover tackles on powerful runners, they will be working on their defensive strategy before taking on league challengers Medway RFC this Sunday. Kick off 2pm at home, all support welcome. We are indebted to our opposition at Romford Ravens, our referee, our linesman Dick Towers, Tracey for the catering, and all those who helped ensure that we managed to get a fixture sorted to kick off our 2018!

Updated 21:45 - 31 Aug 2019 by Millie Ross

Where next?

Match Report: Streatham-Croydon Ladies vs Medway Ladies Top-of-the-table league contenders end SCRFC ladies winning streak
Streatham-Croydon Ladies Review 2017! A brief run through a mammoth year for the Frant Road women...

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