Match Reports: Streatham Super Saturday

“Special mentions and thanks this week for: referee Sebastien Abbate and physio Joanie for refereeing/providing medical support for two games in a row, and Dick Towers who continues to take our recently-extremely-muddy kits down to the laundrette”

This Saturday saw a triple header at Frant Road as the Ladies’ 1st XV and Men’s 1st and 2nd XV all ran out on the same day. It was a mixed bag of results, but it was great to see the bar full and stands buzzing with support for all teams.

The ladies kicked off the day’s matches, playing a league fixture against Ashford. Having recently been beaten by Canterbury and Medway, leading them to concede the 3rd in the table spot to Ashford, the team were ready to reclaim their position. The absence of Vice-Captains Paige Abbs and Mel Laidlaw-Anderson from the starting team sheet presented the perfect opportunity for the rest of the pack to step up and they certainly did that.

Having beaten Ashford away earlier in the season, it was clear that Streatham were going to score by getting the ball in the hands of our powerful backs and the ladies managed this early in the game, with solid play from the forwards and stand out performances from Rosie Carr and Rhi Kennedy, giving the backs the platform to ship the ball wide to outside centre Grace Moore who got on the board with two early tries.

Streatham then entered a phase of defence where Ashford were camped in their 22. A solid defensive performance kept them out for many phases but ill-discipline led to multiple penalties, and Ashford eventually went in under the posts. SCRFC were subsequently energised and continued to attack ferociously. A substitution bringing Ana O’Connor into fly half allowed the team to gain great territory and Grace Moore managed to round off a hat trick. Further tries from back of the match scrum-half Rachel Drapper, substitute Mel Laidlaw-Anderson, and full back Dani Davies brought the full time score to a bonus point winning 36-7.

The men’s 1st XV took on a rejuvenated Old Wellingtonians who are on a good run of form. In increasingly muddy conditions, Streatham got off to a slow start conceding two early penalties and try bringing the score to 11-0. Undeterred however they pushed back, scoring two of their own, bringing the half time score to 18-14 to OW, after an especially crowd pleasing link up between the Josh’s at scrum half and number 8. A clever chip from the scrum half and exceptional hands from the Man of the Match back row putting Streatham in under the posts.

The SCRFC defence was well tested as Old Wellingtonians spent a large portion of the second half in the Streatham 22. Streats held firm but eventually leaked another score in the corner. Streatham finished the game very much on the offence, trying to seek out that much needed final try or penalty but the difficult conditions led to a few spilled balls and it was not to be. Final score 23-21 to OW.

The men’s 2nd XV had a tough day at the office. Limited front row availability brought players out of retirement and unable to get a solid platform in the forwards put the backs under a great deal of strain. Good defensive play from centres Richard Peregrine and Richard Milford managed to hold off some of the onslaught in the first half but great attacking support from the Old Reigatians allowed them to run away with the game. OR’s strength in depth allowed them to continue bringing on fresh players where the Streatham 2s succumbed to injury. Any trained or wannabe props should get in touch with Bob Dean - there’s plenty more room in the Streatham family!

Updated 17:40 - 31 Aug 2019 by Millie Ross