Men’s 1st XV v Lewes 27/03/2010

Away – London 2 South East

Report by Andy Ward

Won 41-12

It was decided to let the train take the strain so we could take advantage of some of Lewes’ hostelries before the game and so, at 12:10 precisely, three men set off but on the train and not in a boat.

Upon arriving at Lewes we found they’d got a power cut and pubs were in darkness. Undeterred we slid into the first one and had a pint before moving on in search of nosebag. As we arrived at the second pub, power was restored and so tucker could be had.

A few pints later we strolled down to the Stanley Turner Ground and were a little taken aback to find the place awash with more blazers than you could shake a stick at. As it happens, Francis Baron and some chums from HQ had been conducting a royal visit and the opportunity for people to do a Max Boyce (I know, cos I was THERE!) was clearly too much to pass up.

Hopefully, all who were getting fed and watered stayed around to watch the game as they would have missed a bit of a treat had they not. Hove took early command of both possession and territory and looked good value. It could only be a matter of time before Lewes buckled and the points started to flow.

As it was the breakthrough came from Ads with a drop goal effort that silenced the crowd by actually going over. This was followed by a further effort a minute later which did not trouble the scorer and caused some wit – or at least 50% of one! to shout – “they’ve only got one trick”.

At least, I think it was a “T” and not a “P” but it’s always difficult to be precise. Our eyes cast around for the confirmation of scores, but we are spoiled at Hove with the Las Vegas Neon flashing out rapid style as the dibbing attentions of Statto command it into life the merest nano second after a scoring event occurs. It was a good five minutes before the plate with 3 on it was found and was stuck in place to confirm Adam’s lofty kick.

In fact the three had only just been put in place when Liam decided to completely ruin the plate person’s afternoon by going over for Hove’s first try in the corner and Ben slotted the conversion over with finesse.

“Damn – where’s the bloody 1 and the zero gone” was muttered scoreboard wise. But hold that plate old chap as within two minutes of Ben’s kick Lewes went over for a try of their own and coupled with the successful conversion – Pete the Plate was now also searching amongst his wares for a 7. And just as he was settling into his chair!

Hove were commanding both the scrum and the line and the Lewes prop had to go off injured after a bit of a pile up. We hope he is OK. Josh Wren was playing out of his skin in the loose head position and this was augmented by the other 4 in the tight 5 and Lewes were going backwards faster than the Italian Army when faced with the mad Jocks in front and a load of ice cream behind. Whoosh and they were no more.

Lewes – possibly spurred on by their try had their best period of the game and kept Hove at bay for about 15 minutes before Matt Sole went over for a score – again converted. That was it until half time and time to fill the glass and empty the bladder.

Lewes started the second period with some energy but failed to make any impact and Hove inexorably took control of the game and started to ease away – much to the chagrin of “yer man” on the scores.

Adam went over for a try and then Chris Eden got his name on the scoreboard (and the score person’s s-h-one-t list!) but both kicks proved too much for Ben’s boot.

The scrum was shuffled with Bevan going off and Paul coming on. Josh swapped from loose to tight to accommodate old man Hasib. It was about this time that Rory – who’d been having a cracker – tackled someone in a manner that made you fear for the safety of the person on the receiving end! 100% legal and a perfectly executed tackle that left the tackled player down on the deck like a sack of sh*t. Thankfully he was OK but I bet he feels it this morning.

Rory then made way for Andy Fry and Nick Marshall came on for Matt Sole and a minor reshuffle of positions resulted.

Ben Ward then chose that moment to score a great try to extend Hove’s lead and Ben’s kick was good to take it further. A final flourish by Hove saw Sean go over and Ben kicked this before a late reply by Lewes on full time.So, 41-12 to Hove and a good performance. Rory was in line for Man of the Match but you only get it if you’re on the pitch for the whole game, so he can’t have it!

The front five were awesome and I feel it should really go there but I’m going to give it to Ben Ward who had a great game and in yet another different position.