Men’s 1st XV v Old Reigatian 28/11/2009

Home – London 2 South East

Report by Andy Ward

Won 40-0

The pitch looked in pretty good nick considering all the rain that we’d had over the last week. Clearly the drainage was paying back the investment. Only another £50K to go!

Hove kicked off playing west to east and within two minutes OR had infringed and Ben got a good long kick over the posts for three. The first in a series of excellent kicks all game which surely had OR cursing.

OR were not looking anything like the force they were last season and I noted a couple of missing faces. Injuries or personnel changes – I can only speculate, but Hove were not tested much in the game at all. Maybe we’re just that much better than we were? I’ll leave others to decide that.

After nine minutes the ball came out the the wing and Tom had a good run in and scored the try for Ben to convert and now Hove were 10-0 to the good with 10 on the clock. Hmm 10 in 10 and 70 to go – could it be 80? Well, I was saying to my compatriots that a 30 points difference at the end of the game would be a damn good result. As it transpired, it turned out to be 40 and so even better.

In the 16th minute Hove had a bit of a scare when Chris decided to run the ball out from about a metre from the try line and got caught in possession. Somehow as bodies piled in, Hove were awarded a penalty and we could clear our lines. I’m not too sure that the OR contingent agreed with the decision at that point. And, I could see their reasoning. However, you get decisions like that both ways and you have to play on.

In the 20th minute the crowd were entertained by Ryan and Ben indulging in a bit of “keepy-uppy” when a wayward pass was first caught by Ryan on his boot and over to Ben who caught it with his boot but alas the skills of Ronaldo were not present and that was the end of that little interlude.

Still, all was not lost as when OR picked up the discarded ball and passed it down the line, their Full Back knocked on and Hove were awarded the scrum. Hove mounted the pressure but OR defended well for about three minutes as Hove pressed their advantage. Inevitably, someone transgressed to gain an advantage and the referee blew for a penalty to Hove.

Up steps Ben to take the kick but the ball bounced off the upright and Sean was on it like a rat up a drainpipe and scored just to the right of the upright. Ben made no mistake with his set square for the conversion and Hove were now 17 to the good and cooking. A final penalty in the 32nd minute saw the half end with 20 points to nil and your correspondent sped off to inform Juice FM of the current score. For all of you not at the games, Juice broadcast the half time and full time results as long as I can get this info through to them. So, turn off all the other rubbish and listen to Juice on the Saturday afternoon if you want to know the Hove scores.

At 15:20 the game restarted and within 4 minutes the boot of Ben was back at work converting another penalty. OR then had their best period of the game and were camped in the Hove half for most of it and within the 22 for considerable periods.

Hove defended well and several times OR were close to the line but lacked the guile to get through. One particular good opening came as the ball went out to their winger but his handling let him down and the move came to nought.

You sensed then that OR had just given their best shot and had come up wanting and so it appeared. James came on for Sean and within a couple of minutes Matt had scored a superb try coming off a scrum and breaking about four tackles to get across the line. Ben the boot hit the further two.

A bit of hanky panky then ensued when the replacement OR prop shoulder charged a Hove player and a Yellow Card was produced. Sadly the ref got the wrong man and dismissed the number 7. Hove then made their final two substitutions over the next few minutes with Mark coming on for Rory and Josh for Bevan.

Just after the second sub, a further penalty was awarded and Ben slotted that over. The final act was left to Ryan to finish off and this was as good a team try as Matt’s was a solo effort. Glenn picked the ball up at the base and made some yards, this was then passed to Tom who drew his man and slipped the ball to Dave who did similar before passing to Ryan who sprinted the last few metres to pop the ball down for a further five. Ben added the extra 2 and Hove were 40 to the good.

Lewes slipped up at OD’s, KCS just beat PJF away and what look like easy wins for Sevenoaks, Juddians and Warlingham – all at home over Bromley, Eastbourne and Deal respectively. So, the table is pretty much unchanged with TJ still top with 100% record and a massive 388PD, Hove second 3 points adrift and 190PD followed by Warlingham who have 13 points and 178PD. Sevenoaks follow with 12 points but a -21PD (not helped by the 65 we put past them). OR, KCS and Lewes are the rest of the chasing pack with the others adrift.

Next week sees us away at KCS – a first for me for sure, followed by a home game against Lewes to complete the first half of the season. Two more wins would be very nice.

Man of the match? Well, Ben dazzled with his kicking display and deserves a mention for that and the usual contenders did what they usually do to contend. But this time, it goes to an unsung hero. Another dogged, grinding, 100% front row display from Mt Paul Hasib sees this week’s bouquet headed his way. Well done lad.