Twickenham 48 v 11 Effingham & Leatherhead

Parkfield’s welcomed 3 home fixtures this Saturday with the memory of Andy Rees at the fore front of everyone’s thoughts, a beloved & valued member of the club, he would have been proud of the money raised for charity & the level of rugby on display.

The Side;
Forwards; Joey, Ricky & Frazer made up the formidable front row, with Skipper Banks & Puff at locks, with Mooro, Chris & Mo completing the back row.
Backs; Goddard & Mike partnered for the first time this season, with Jash & JH partnering in the centers, finally Stock, J.Foster & T.Foster completed the back 3.
Replacements; Penson, Dowden & Wattridge

E&L have had a tough start to their season so Ts expected them to come out all guns blazing with nothing to lose, it was going to be tough from the get go, and E&L definitely didn’t play like a side bottom on of the league.

E&L got the game underway, and early on the set piece looked strong, although Ts cleared their lines well a lot of the early possession went E&Ls way, however Ts defense looking as strong as previous weeks, before they give the early penalty and E&L convert to take an early 3-0 lead.

The next 5 minutes of play, was very even between the two sides, clearing their lines well and adding structure to the early attacks, however both defenses seemed ready for the challenge. A great early scrum and good front foot ball lead to Mike feeding Jack F for a deep kick with a fantastic kick chase which resulted in an early attacking scrum in the opposition red zone.

A storming pick & go from Mo got us within 10 meters before Ricky got the offload to edge that little closer. Puff gets held up but the penalty advantage allowed Ts to put the ball in the corner for another attempt, the strong set piece and rolling maul leads to an early score converted by Foster 7-3.

E&L regain possession from the kick off, the scramble Ts D holds out well however a big hit from Stock comes back for a pen and an early yellow card, E&L bring it back to 1 point 7-6 the score.

Strong defense to keep E&L at bay, lead to a turnover penalty and Ts stick it long, solid darts from Ricky all day and great lineout work from Chis, meant Sam & Mike both had great platforms to work off. Strong running from the likes of; Puff, Mo, Louie & Chris off seat piece gave Ts front foot ball and Mike finds the corner to amount more pressure.

Pressure on the lineout results in a Ts scrum just 5 meters from the line, a dominant scrum takes Ts forward but Goddard finds Jash on the Blind who (Acrobatically… kind of) dots it down in the corner, Foster makes it 14-6.

The Ts momentum continues, really beginning to take control of the possession, and credit to Joey, Ricky & Frazer having a huge impact and front row, and constant pressure from Mooro & Chris on 9 & 10 keeps ball coming Ts way. Ts dominate another scrum, get the penalty and opt for the corner.

A beautifully worked scrum, sees Jash head blind but is unable to fully fix the E&L defender who gets to Stock and just nudges him into touch 5 meters out.
Ts continuing the attack in the E&L 22 but only able to come away with the 3 points converted by foster 17-6.

Banks unable to take the restart (Which seemed to be the theme of the remainder of the match) but a loose ball comes out JH gains and hits Jack but E&L quick to react and are all over the ball. E&L stick the ball deep but Fozzy is light on his feet and Mike’s able to clear our lines.

E&L however proving they’re not a side to be reckoned with when they want to play with the ball, and really putting Ts to the sword, a small outside break, but covered by JH lead to an offload into touch and Ts come away unscathed, but it was a close call.

E&L miss their final shot at goal to end the half and the score remains 17-6 to Ts at the Break.

Not too long from the 2nd half kick off do Ts manage to show their dominance in the set piece once again, strong scrum followed by a lineout, lead to a fantastic Fline by Mo who beat the defenders to get over for the 3rd try of the afternoon, unconverted the score 22-6.

Strong lineout once more from Ts built a great platform for Sam to stick to the corner and amount the pressure once again. From the lineout Ts win the penalty and opt for the scrum which resulted in a Penalty try and another 7 points, 29-6 Ts get their bonus point.

Banks misses the kick off once again and E&L have a brief spell of attacking, really putting the pressure on Ts defense. Very much testing the defense outside E&L looked threatening, but the black and red wall that met them kept E&L at bay.

Dowden & Penson takes to the field, and yes that does mean Fyles played 2s, I guess Ts wanted the strongest team out. A couple of mistakes lead to E&L coming away with the penalty decision and put the ball deep into Ts 22, but the strong defense gained the penalty back and Ts relieve some pressure.

Penalties rack up in the Ts 22, its getting dangerous and E&L are edging closer to the whitewash every phase, strong running goes to show what this E&L team have to offer when they really get into their stride however Ts defense proving once again its strengths. Wattridge returns from injury with around 15 left on the clock.

Immediately making an impact from the strong lineout & platform, fresh legs he spots the miss match and exploits the space ahead of him, before finding Mooro wide 50 meters down the field who manages to keep hold, ride the tackle and pop the offload out to Fozzy who gets over the line, however he missed the kick and the score 34-6.

Ricky with god knows what kind of hop to catch, loses the ball, before Lurch continues to display his strengths in D as he nails another player. Wide from the scrum, Fozzy sets up on the half way, a well-structured attack by Ts continues to threaten the E&L defensive line.

Before the blind side was exploited by JH but the lack of support meant he took the contact however, Mike picked, got the offload away and Jash dots it down for his 3rd of the season, converted 41-6 the score.

Another missed kick off E&L have the attacking possession and pushing Ts backward, but Ts get the pen, and another soon after as they opt for the Lineout again. Mike goes blind, takes the hit but gets it away to Ricky who bowls his way forward getting it off to JH to gain another few meters before being brought down just short of the oppo 5. Wattridge orchestrating the attack, with Joey & puff linking well in front of the sticks.

But the ref brings it back for the penalty and decide the strong scrum is the best option. Just before Chris could steal his 2nd of the year, Puff gets over and heads back to top try scorer, converted 48-6 the score.

But after a dominant game it was E&L who would have the last hurrah, a woeful attempt to clear from Fozzy results in the winger getting ball in space, JH & Jash hit well and the player gets away with playing the ball on the floor but the opportunistic E&L players, head blind, get the offload away and get over the line to finish the game with a score of 48-11.

A huge thanks to all that played, participated, supported, physio’d, managed, shouted & raised money on a huge day for Twickenham including the great sportsmanship from all opposition teams.

MOTM; Fozzy has a solid game at the back with a good nudge at goal too.
DOTD; Banks had to take responsibility for the majority of woeful kick offs we received.

This Sat Ts head away to Gossport in which will no doubt be a highly contested match once again.

Many thanks for the read, until next time, Be seeing you.
JH

Updated 18:30 - 1 Sep 2019 by john henry smith