Old Wimbledonians (19) vs. OGRFC (25)

OGRFC travelled to Old Wimbledonians having struggled on their visit to Dornan fields last season however spirits were high given last week's emphatic victory away to Old Blues. With injuries ravaging through the entire squad there were three debuts handed out to Franno Annadale, Will Arkell and Matt Bennett.

OGRFC had the fortune to pick another very front heavy pack with all of the tight 5 able to play prop. The first scrum of the day showed the boys were setting off where they left off last Saturday with a big shove on. Unfortunately the ball squirmed back out the tunnel and straight to the Wombles scrum half who was in the right place and right time to score under the posts to go 7 nil up.

There was no need to panic from the boys given the early stages of the game and the promising setup, just an unlucky roll of the ball. OGRFC responded pretty much instantly when vice captain for the day, Mike Tierney was hovering on the opposite touch line to where the ball was in the Wombles 22. He saw the space in front of him and gave the shout to fly half Chris Hanson for the cross field kick. Hanson duly obliged and Tierney was able to gather and score in the corner, 7 - 5 Wombles.

With 15 minutes gone the OGRFC pack got their first scrum penalty of the day and from the resultant penalty, Chris Hanson kicked the ball deep into the Wombles 22. OGRFC maintained possession from the resultant lineout and were patiently building phases before Eoghan Sweeney scored an opportunist try by darting round the fringe of a ruck after some good defence by the Wombles eventually gave in. Chris Hanson slotted the extras to make the score 7 - 12 OGRFC before he stuck a penalty to extend the lead beyond a converted try, 7 - 15.

The next 15 minutes of the game was cagey and both defences stood strong before Jack Chard scored a typical Jack Chard counter attacking try on the stroke of half time. Wombles had possession on the half line before the barrel, Nick Bennett stole the ball at the breakdown and the ball was shipped quickly out to Chard who picked a hole in the defence and put the after burners on, 7 - 20 half time.

OGRFC started the second half flat and unfortunately were the first to conceede in the second half with the Wombles scoring a try shortly after the break to make the score 12 - 20. The OGRFC fans were hopeful of a response to this try however with 25 minutes of the second half to play Eoghan Sweeney was the unlucky recipient of a team yellow card meaning OGRFC really had to dig deep. The Wombles made the extra man count and moments before Sweeney was due back on they scored another try of their own to make the score a one point game, 19 -20.

With 15 minutes of the game left the next try was crucial for both sides, offering a potential bonus point victory. The game becoming so tight seemed to galvanise OGRFC who really took the game to the Wombles, dominating all the territory and possession stats. With the Wombles defence holding firm it was going to take something special for OGRFC to get that match clinching try. With only moments left in the game, debutant Matt Bennett scored the try of the day. Picking up the ball on the left wing just in front of the Wombles 10 meter line, he bashed his way through a couple of defenders, into the 22m to where it appeared he had been caught but managed to spin away from the defender and score the bonus point and match winning try; final score 19 -25 OGRFC.

This was another extremely satisfying win and so pleasing to find extra players who added real quality to the side. It was good to see support on the sidelines as well and dare I say it, the OGRFC fans perhaps outnumbered the Wombles fans. With no game next week, OGRFC are sitting third in the league and now form a tight top three that has a bit of day light from the chasing pack.