The beginning of this week was greeted by the promise of a cameo appearance from Laurence 'Bulldog' Price as it helped allay the recent struggles of fielding a competitive tight five. This was also bolstered by the news Kiwi's were coming along (no Stefan Kiwis aren't just a type of Fruit or Small bird. They're also very good Rugby players), as we looked too build on the win against Hendon the previous week.

As the game started we survived a scare within the first two minutes as Old Albanians ran the ball from kickoff without much challenge as they crossed into our 22, thankfully we managed to scramble and cover but a sharp warning of what could happen if we weren't clued in. We spent the following 20 minutes controlling play and dominating possession of the ball, but unfortunately unable to turn possession into points. In recent weeks it'd been our backs who've recieved the cudos of showing us how to score but this week the deadlock was broken by the forwards as they crashed it up round the fringes with Stefan claiming the honours as he strode through and round Old A's defenders to crash over.

Poor attention from Southgate saw the Grizzlies score one of their own within a few minutes of the restart as we took reminder that we have to work just as hard without the ball as we do with it.

The first half continued to frustrate as we once again controlled the majority of possession but didn't make it count. Whilst we weren't adding points calm heads and supporting one another made sure we weren't letting up on anything as we camped within the Old A's half. It was some brilliant individual running that finally punched a hole in their defence as Johnny, Bulldog and Joycie gaining yards as Keith provided the coupe de grace as he scored under the sticks to provide us the lead at the half.

HT: 7-12

The second half nearly repeated the first as we provided Old A's space to run but great cover from the backline saw their efforts limited to our 10 metre line. While the forwards got the flowers in the first half the backs definitely won the second, as the teams tired they made use of the gaps that started appearing. The midfield of Adam, Connor and Zach caused havoc as they consistently broke the line and saw us on the front foot, it's off of one of these breaks that the ball found it's way to Joycie as he helped extend the lead.

Introduction of Taff and Colin from the bench further bolstered our attacking potency, but not before both played a part in stopping an Old A's attack with our 22. Sharp wits from Taff saw the subsequent penalty taken quickly as he took it majority of the way up the pitch as quick clean ball provided opportunity for Zach to get on the score sheet. The speed and clinical nature of the our play had Old A's reeling as Taff managed to get his own reward not long after as he worked clear of a staggered defence to add to a growing lead.

The beginning of this week was greeted by the promise of a cameo appearance from Laurence 'Bulldog' Price as it helped alay the recent struggles of fielding a competitive tight five. This was also bolstered by the news Kiwi's were coming along as we looked to build on the win against Hendon the previous week (no, Stefan Kiwis aren't just a type of Fruit or Small bird. They're also very good rugby players).

As the game started we survived a scare within the first two minutes as Old Albanians ran the ball from kickoff without much challenge and they crossed into our 22, thankfully we managed to scramble and cover but a sharp warning of what could happen if we weren't clued in. We spent the following 20 minutes controlling play and dominating possession of the ball, but unfortunately, we were unable to turn possession into points. In recent weeks it'd been our backs who've recieved the cudos of showing us how to score but this week the deadlock was broken by the forwards as they crashed it up round the fringes with Stefan claiming the honours as he strode through the Old A's defenders to crash over.

Poor attention from Southgate saw the Grizzlies score one of their own within a few minutes of the restart as we took reminder that we have to work just as hard without the ball as we do with it.

The first half continued to frustrate as we once again controlled the majority of possession but didn't make it count. Whilst we weren't adding points, calm heads and supporting one another made sure we weren't letting up on anything as we camped within the Old A's half. It was some brilliant individual running that finally punched a hole in their defence as Johnny, Bulldog and Joycie gaining yards as Keith provided the coupe de grace as he scored under the sticks to provide us the lead at the half.

HT: 7-12

The second half nearly repeated the first as we provided Old A's space to run, but great cover from the backline saw their efforts limited to our 10 metre line. While the forwards got the flowers in the first half, the backs definitely won the second, as the teams were tired, they made use of the gaps that started appearing. The midfield of Adam, Connor, and Zach caused havoc as they consistently broke the line and saw us on the front foot. It was off of one of these breaks that the ball found its way to Joycie, and he helped extend the lead.

The introduction of Taff and Colin from the bench further bolstered our attacking potency, but not before both played a part in stopping an Old A's attack with our 22. Sharp wits from Taff saw the subsequent penalty taken quickly as he took it the majority of the way up the pitch from 22 to 22. A quick clean ball in a one on one provided opportunity for Zach to get on the score sheet. The speed and clinical nature of our play had Old A's reeling as Taff managed to get his own reward not long after as he worked clear of a staggered defence to add to a growing lead.

Looking not to relent Southgate looked to keep play in the Old A's half as we kicked for territory from one of the resulting lineouts Mark was able to snipe from the back of a rolling maul, putting the result beyond doubt.

Whilst the result may have been decided, Old A's wanted the final say. They crashed and heaved for the games last few minutes against a resolute Southgate defence and eeked over for the final play of the game.

FT 14-38

Greatly appreciate OA's for hosting us and know the return fixture will be hotly contested one. There is a break in league fixtures now until Enfield Ignatians on 9th November, but there is no shortage of Frieworks at the Walker ground next weekend. Let's look to continue this good streak in the league.