Sheffield Medicals 26 - 15 Roundhegians

With soaring temperatures all summer the Yorkshire hot beverages market must have taken the hit, as Coach Green’s shiny whiteboard saw itself replaced by three pieces of old A3 tacked to the dressing room door. Regardless, the message in the pre-match team talk was clear: despite a pleasing bonus point victory at Old Rish to start the season the team had plenty to work on. Discipline, accuracy and intensity proved to be recurring themes as the Medics made their return to Norton.

First blood of the afternoon went to the Norton ground staff, producing a pitch fit for a fortress – however it was the boot of Captain Conville, rather than scintillating running rugby, that allowed Wiffy to slot over three early penalties to round off another encouraging first 20 from the Medics. Roundhegians replied with one of their own, as the combination of a pack the size of a porta-cabin and a 10 with a traction engine on the end of his right leg helped them edge into the Medics half. The tide slowly began to turn though, as breaks from Fawdry, coupled with solid defence from Beech and co. helped the Medics back into their rhythm. Little did we know that Rob ‘Branislav Ivanovic’ Causer had been rehearsing backs moves on the streets of New Dehli, and it was his (first of many) scything breaks through the Hegians back line that created the chance for George London to bulldozer into the corner in what was his final game of university rugby. Walt Disney would have been proud of this one.

His thunder was quickly stolen though as cries of “GASH!” wrung out around the fortress. Players from both sides expectantly looked to the sidelines, yet were left disappointed to instead see that a particularly ugly looking Geordie Fawdry had in fact decided to play a round of “Headbutt-a-Hegian.” In the wake of this tragic loss, a lapse in concentration allowed the rampaging Hegians’ 8 to break through inside the 22 and scamper away from some lacklustre defence. 16 – 8 at half time.

Upon being encouraged to “f***ing kill someone!” by one of their rather more exuberant on-field players, Hegians sent the restart straight into touch - allowing the Medics the chance to build some early momentum. Many members of the crowd mistook Alastair Shaw for Phil Taylor…. as he continued to fire dart, after dart into the grateful hands of Pigott and Edgar in what proved to be a solid day for the Medics set-piece. This provided the platform for much of the good work in a rather stop-start second half; as Bransilav continued to make breaks, Flinty continued to bosh, and Blackwell continued to swear. Knight fed Gaynor who finished beautifully in the corner to make it 21-8, before he went on to send a well-judged kick/bounce into the Hegians corner. After another sharp lineout drive Shaw miraculously rose from the rubble with ball in hand as the scoreboard ticked over to 26-8. Hegians showed great fight though and continued to apply territorial pressure courtesy of their 10’s noteworthy kicking, finally resulting in another rollover try. A disappointing way to end the game for the Medics, however another win all the same: 26-15.

A thoroughly enjoyable game, and best of luck to Roundhegians for the rest of the season. Final word must go to the gym rat London though, a fine servant to SURFC, SMRUFC and Halifax during his time in the city of dreams! #homoerectus