OAs vs Old Haileyburians
(18th Feb 2006)

Old Alleynians 7 (0)
[T: Robertson - C: Robinson]

Old Haileyburians 8 (0)
[T: 1 - P: 1]

Old Alleynian’s once again ended up on the wrong side of a close encounter and left to reflect on a number of missed opportunities that would have secured victory. The match doubled up as a league fixture and Surrey Shield quarter final with defeat most likely bringing a premature end to the season.

Old Haileyburians travelled to Dulwich on the back of seven wins from nine after a poor start to the season. Old Alleynian’s were at near full strength for the match and put in a much improved display following the disappointing draw of the previous week.

The home side’s pack put in a powerful performance throughout and won the forward battle up front. This allowed Robertson to successfully snipe around the base of the rucks and get behind the Old Haileyburians defence for most of the afternoon. An early long range penalty for the Old Alleynian’s fell short while in defence they were resolute against a potentially dangerous backline. Just before half time, with the game still scoreless, Old Alleynian’s missed a penalty opportunity from close range.

The second half continued in a similar vein to the first with both sides generally cancelling each other out. A further couple of penalties went amiss mid way through the half and as the game got increasingly fractious, Davey and the Old Haileyburian Number 8 spent ten minutes in the sin bin as the referee attempted to retain control of the game. The deadlock was broken on 65 minutes when a turnover in midfield created space down the left hand side of the field. A quick ruck allowed Robertson to break through a couple of tackles and touch down for the opening score. Robinson converted giving Old Alleynian’s a 7-0 lead.

Old Haileyburians immediately reduced the deficit to 7-3 with a penalty in front of the posts following an infringement at the breakdown. With the away pack still a man short Old Alleynian’s looked to reinforce their forward dominance with a number of strong driving mauls towards the try line. Unfortunately this did not lead to the match winning score and with minutes remaining Old Haileyburians turned the ball over and launched a counter attack. A penalty resulted and took play into the Old Alleynian 22. After a succession of phases the ball was spread wide and the right winger went over in the corner. The referee adjudged the ball to be grounded and despite the missed conversion Old Alleynian’s trailed by one point with a minute left.

Old Haileyburians claimed the restart and cleared the ball to touch, which signalled the end of the game. An even, well refereed, contest saw Old Alleynian’s come out on the wrong side of another close game, regrettably a defining feature of their season so far.

Team: Tom Woodford, James Franklin, Kobie van der Weisthuizen, Bertie Campbell-Baldwin, Matthew Vale, Andrew Ross, John Hartley (c), Tom Harding, Mark Robertson, Jamie Docherty, Jack Robinson, Mike Joy, Dan Mead, Yousef Salamony, Nick Gourdon. Replacements: Dennis Yearwood, Giles Burris, Fergus Davey.

Author - Jamie Docherty