OAs vs Old Freemen's
(14th Jan 2006)

Old Freemen's RFC 20 (9)
[T: Hobbs – P: Winslet (5)]

Old Alleynian's RFC 19 (8)
[T: Mead; Robertson - P: Docherty (3)]

Old Alleynian's promotion aspirations suffered a setback on Saturday in a close defeat away at Old Freemen's in a tightly fought encounter. After the fixture postponement the previous Saturday, following a deluge of snow in the local area, Ashtead Park was deemed fit for play. Old Alleynian's played into a strong wind and against the slope in the first half, and quickly fell behind after conceding a penalty at the breakdown in front of the posts.

An early interception followed allowing Old Alleynian's to venture into the Old Freemen's half for the first time in the match. A penalty for slowing the ball down at a ruck and subsequent backchat allowed the scores to be tied. For most of the remainder of the half Old Freemen's took advantage of the strong favourable conditions and edged ahead through two well taken penalties. Resolute defending kept the line intact however, most notably a try saving tackle from Ross wide out. Old Freemen's declined the opportunities to kick for the corners and instead edged ahead 9-3.

The growing deficit seemed to lift Old Alleynian's and they looked increasingly dangerous with the ball in hand. A line out from a penalty close to the Old Freemen's line was dangerously pulled down with the offending prop fortunate to remain on the pitch. Less could be said for Ross and his opposite flanker who spent ten minutes cooling off on the sidelines after coming to blows.

A succession of forward drives soon followed, led by Woodford and Franklin, which created space for the backs. A neat sidestep from Robinson allowed Mead to cross out wide. The conversion was unsuccessful. Approaching half time a break by Davey, sniping clean through from the base of a ruck, allowed Docherty some space before offloading to Sandars for a well taken try. Mysteriously play was pulled back for a forward pass and rather than being 15-9 up at the interval, Old Alleynian's found themselves behind 9-8, but with the wind and slope at their back for the second half.

Old Freemen's came out strongly in the second half and continued to hold the ascendancy in the line out, which restricted the Old Alleynian's ability to gain a foothold in the match. Penalties for both sides took the score to 12-11 before Old Freemen's capitalised on a succession of errors in the Old Alleynian backline to hack the ball deep into 22. Failure to clear the ball gifted Old Freemen's a soft try, fortunate though given the apparent grounding in the dead ball area. The conversion was unsuccessful leaving the score 17-11 in favour of the home side.

Old Alleynian's responded strongly and after a period of concerted pressure, Robertson went over for a well taken try. The conversion went to the left of the posts leaving the score 17-16. Old Alleynian's continued to kick for territory with the wind at the backs and set up good field position in an attempt to close the game out. A penalty quickly followed which was converted to put Old Alleynian's ahead for the first time in the match with five minutes left.

Old Freemen's returned to the Old Alleynian half and after a series of forward drives were awarded a penalty wide out following an indiscretion at the maul. It was on the edge of the full back's range but had to be attempted if Old Freemen's were to win the game. After a slight drop in the wind, the ball was cleanly struck and went over for the decisive score.

Old Alleynian's refused to lie down and they had a penalty with a minute remaining from out on the right hand side. Distance was no problem with the wind but it unfortunately drifted to the left of the uprights and thereafter consigned Old Alleynian's to their third league defeat of the season.

The crucial upcoming games at home to Croydon and Chipstead now bear even more importance. An upsurge in intensity, alongside greater execution of the game plan, is now required if Old Alleynian's are to top the table come April.

[OA's Team: Tom Woodford; James Franklin; Kobie Van der Westhuizen; Joe Richardson; Bart Thomas; Andrew Ross; John Hartley (c); Tom Harding; Fergus Davey; Jamie Docherty; Dan Mead; Tim Sandars; Mark Robertson; Yousef Salamony; Jack Robinson. Replacements: Phil Topham; Bertie Campbell-Baldwin; Tom Foster]

Author - Jamie Docherty