Men’s 1st XV v Sevenoaks 25/10/2008

Away – London 3 South East

Report by Andy Ward

Drawn 10-10

After having attended Pippa’s 40th birthday bash at Hove HQ the previous night, your correspondent woke to a thumping head and a bad memory! Gradually, memory returned and I contacted all the people to whom I had offered lifts to Sevenoaks and meeting times were arranged. Met Henry the Navigator (Stotty) at HQ and made to leave at 12:34 when the phone rang and this voice enquired “och the noo, when ye ginny pickky me uppy, youse English bastard” or words to that effect and so it was that memory had not fully returned and we detoured to pick up mad Scots person on the way.

After securing the form of Angus in the back seat, the modern equivalent of Jerome K Jerome’s famous novel set forth bound for Sevenoaks. I maybe haven’t mentioned that I had raided the bank account this week and invested in a new transport facility and so lots of messing about to adjust the individual climate and air controls to counter the noxious fumes emanating from Stotty’s arse at regular intervals during the journey. It was like something had died.

As befits your correspondent’s position in the Club, I was secure in the knowledge that I had luncheon upon arrival and so frantic phone calls secured the same for my two companions as those of you who read last season’s Bromley match report surely couldn’t have put up with Stotty’s repeated moans at missing the feast! The man never stops whingeing.

After a couple of false dawns – mainly caused by some Sevenoakian directing us to Argylle Drive (it was called Plymouth Drive – tosser!) we eventually arrive at 13:19 ready for the lunch to commence at 13:30. The rest of the Hove contingent – in the form of President Basley, SVP French, DSVP Finlason, John the Drive and Graham the Train were already ensconced and quaffing either wine or beer. Now, all the Sevenoaks hierarchy were resplendent in stripey blazers and conversation soon turned as to whether we should go down the stripey blazer route. Would it appear too gaudy? Who knows. Anyway, lunch was served and President Basley was critiquing the wine in fine style while I was chatting to old acquaintance Robert Horner – ask Stuart Hathaway if you don’t know him. He does!

Soon, the appointed hour was upon us and we repaired pitch side to see how Hove (London SE4 last year) would fare against Sevenoaks (London 2 last year).

There were a good number of Hove supporters who had made the trip and they were in fine voice. Hove kicked off – into the wind – and were soon attacking the Sevenoaks line with gusto. A try scoring opportunity presented itself within minutes and some of the Hove contingent thought the ball had been touched down. Sadly, the referee wasn’t amongst those holding that opinion and so the game restarted with a 5 metre scrum. With flankers Dave Wattam and Harvey Strudwick always active – and giving your correspondent a difficult time for selecting the man of the match – Hove were increasingly pressurising what seemed a fairly fragile defence. Hove were awarded a kickable penalty in the sixth minute and Sam Whiting addressed the ball. Up went Blakey’s flag like a rat up a drainpipe, but the Sevenoaks adjudicator’s flag remained stubbornly down. A view the referee shared and so the penalty was missed. Blakey’s flag technique was to come under further criticism from the referee later and so perhaps we need to consider a flag course for the lad!

Three minutes later a break by Charlie Brock (another MOM contender) saw him gain good ground, slip the ball to Liam Hale who passed onto Adam Phillips, onto Gerwyn Wilson back to Adam who in his mercurial style swash buckled over the line for the first score of the game and 5-0 to Hove. The extra two points offered by the laws of the game were hungrily grabbed by Sam – no semaphoric arguments this time – and Hove were 7-0 to the good and the traveling contingent were dreaming of a good away win.

Sadly, it seemed so were the players. Dreaming that is. But, I get ahead of myself and we will return to this later. Four minutes later, the referee awarded Hove a penalty for Sevenoaks lying the wrong side and Sam quickly kicked this over to give Hove a ten point advantage. A few minutes later, Adam and Sam combined again and Sam was narrowly denied a try by a foot in touch when perhaps a better option would have been to pass the ball back to Adam who was unmarked and waiting for what would have been a certain try – and given Adam’s position it would likely have been under the post and a potential seven points were wasted.

Hove were having 80%+ of both possession and territory but were not converting this into points. Where was the killer instinct to drive the game out of Sevenoaks’ reach while we were in the ascendancy? Sadly, not immediately apparent! A rare break by Sevenoaks saw them attacking the Hove line with a line out some 5 metres away from the goal line. The throw was true and the drive was on but Hove’s defence was sound and the attempt was held up. The resultant scrum had to be taken twice but Hove’s nerve held and the ball was won and the lines were cleared with a sweep of Adam’s boot. Sevenoaks steadied to receive the ball and the chap under it was none other than Hove’s own Mike Walton (now playing for Sevenoaks). Zoom came the ball high out of the sky as Mike readied for a surge up the pitch. Oops! Spilled it and your correspondent could not resist a quick “Eey-Ore” at this time. Little things please.

Back to the game and Hove received the ball once more and Gerwyn went into contact when other, better options were available and the potential was not realised. The referee adjudged that Gerwyn had not released (a decision he made all too quickly at several times throughout the game – and, in my opinion – wrongly). The kick was taken and Sevenoaks won a line. The throw was taken and the referee adjudged some further indiscretion on the part of Hove and Sevenoaks elected to go for goal. The attempt was missed – with both touch judges agreeing and so the score remained at 10-0 to Hove as the half time whistle was blown.

The second half started with Sevenoaks kicking off and Hove now had the wind assisting them. Sadly, they made a bit of a shambles of this and seemed intent on kicking the ball away at every opportunity – often whilst in the Sevenoaks 22 – much to the puzzlement of the crowd and presumably much to the relief of the Sevenoaks coach! During the half time interval, it was said by Nick Baxter that we would have the wind to our advantage and a certain member of the coach party declared – “yes, but we will f**k it up”. Those amongst this company laughed at such a notion, but events transpired to prove this jokey prediction to be too close to the truth for comfort.

Early pressure from Sevenoaks meant that Hove had to defend as the half time talk had awoken Sevenoaks. Again, Hove tried to counter and again Gerwyn seemed intent on always running with the ball when better passing options were available. Five minutes gone and Hove had an excellent chance but a wayward pass caused the referee to blow for forward. Hmm. Discuss. Midway through the second half, Hove were awarded two penalties both from a similar spot and the first was taken by Sam and the second by Adam. Both were close, but no points was the result. The game was grinding out with everyone urging Hove to greater effort and just one more score would surely put Sevenoaks away and a great victory would be ours. This was not to be and after 27 minutes of the second half, Sevenoaks got their first score with a penalty. 10-3.

With only four minutes left of the game, a blunder by Hove and some strange interpretations of the laws of the game saw Sevenoaks take a second tap at a penalty and race away. The first touch down attempt was stopped by Hove but Sevenoaks retained the ball and swung it out wide and secured the five points. The kicker’s aim was true and the extra two points were taken. With the score at 10-10 all the fears we had about letting them back into the game were realised. Hove still tried to attack and were punished by the referee for what he thought were infringements. A penalty was awarded to Sevenoaks and some idiot decided that was the moment to criticise the referee. The referee awarded a further 10 metres and what was a risky kicking attempt was now turned into a kickable chance by the folly of one of the Hove players.

The kicker addressed the ball, struck it cleanly and Hove hearts were momentarily stopped as the ball swirled in the wind and agonisingly just missed the right upright. Again, Hove attacked but could not get any final score and a drop kick attempt by Gerwyn did not work as he had intended!

So, 10 apiece in a game that was there for the winning. First the Aylesford match was lost when it could have been won and now this one was – to be frank – thrown away.

Other results saw both Aylesford and Eastbourne win and both overtake us in the table with us now lying sixth. Old Reigatian overcame Old Elthamians and they (OR) now lie second. So, next week it is Lordswood at home, followed by Eastbourne away and Old Reigatian at home. Lordswood were beaten at home by Warlingham and now lie third from bottom with only 2 points. So, it is essential that we get a win next week and really for the following two weeks as that would give us a platform for moving forward this season. We must lose the habit of not winning games that are clearly there for the taking and we must learn that killer instinct and finish teams off when they are down. Its time for us to stop being “nice” and to become “nasty”. But in the nicest possible way – of course!