1st XV Archived News

Old Wimbledonians 15 pts - Camberley 21 pts : Match played 26/02/2011

The Old Boys secured a bonus point on Saturday with a much improved performance against third placed Alleynians. This was still a loss, of course, but they can be pleased with the added fight shown right through to the end of the match. This was despite being let down once again by the no-show of a prop forward whose presence would have provided further substance to the overall effort.

The first half was evenly fought. Although the weight of the visiting pack was greater than the O W s and made ground in the tight skirmishes, the terrier-like qualities of Sam Biss and Phil Reid were more than compensatory in the loose play. Phil Reid opened the scoring, in fact, following some good OW approach work. Matt Jones, this week bringing his kicking boots instead of the gardening ones, converted this try to give the home team a seven point lead. After thirty minutes the heavy and well-practised Alleynian pack secured an equalising try with a push-over which was converted. The visitors took the lead with a penalty awarded for offside, which kick was shortly equalled by Matt Jones with a longer-range effort for the same sort of infringement. However, the visitors went ahead once more with a penalty for an OW high tackle just before the mid-point interval which came with the away side leading 13-10.

The second period continued in the same vein with the Old Boys weathering much pressure from the visitors who had come with the match tactic of playing a forward game in the soft underfoot conditions. Following a penalty to the visitors the OWs struck back with a superbly worked interpassing movement which led to Jamie Crone giving a well weighted pass to Paddy Donaghy who ran fifty yards up the right touch line to score. This try, touched down in the corner, was nearly converted by Matt Jones with a magnificent kick. This brought the scores to 15-16 to the visitors with all still to play for. However, with five minutes remaining the visitors widened the margin to six points with a well taken try following much pressure on the Old Boys line. There was to be no addition to the scores and therefore the home team secured a losing bonus point against one of the best sides in the league.

Two or three performances of this quality during the season would have brought more success and a much higher ranking in the league table.

Alton 29 pts - Old Wimbledonians 13 pts : Match played 19/02/2011

The Old Boys lost a game on Saturday which could and should have been won with a margin to spare. Two penalty tries against and some poor goal-kicking cost the home team twenty-five points and a psychological shot in the arm, although a red and a yellow card did not help matters.

Once again OWs were short in the pack, the courageous Sam Biss fitting in between the props, and the stalwart Matt Bell coming into the second row until the one bench reserve, Taz Habib, arrived from work.

The match started badly for the Old Boys when a penalty try was awarded against them after two minutes for an alleged high tackle on the Alton left winger who had already spilled the ball as the tackle was made. Play was generally in the OWs favour for most of the first half with one good break by Jamie Crone who fed on to George Attipoe looking dangerous. After thirty-five minutes Matt Jones slotted a penalty for an offside infringement by an Alton flanker. Immediately following this the Old Boys took the lead with a splendid interception try from the evergreen black-shorted Alex Horley who ran half the length of the pitch to score. Matt Jones failed with the conversion attempt from in front of the posts. Just on the interval break Sam Biss was unfortunate to be given a yellow card and Alton regained the lead from the resultant penalty, making the half-time score 10-7 in their favour.

The second period began just as badly as the first with the visitors being awarded their second penalty try for wheeling a scrum on their own line. However, play was evenly fought with Rory O'Reilly prominent with several pop passes until a good push-over try, claimed by Tom Harwood, brought the home side to within four points of the opposition. However, the conversion kick was missed along with another straightforward penalty. The strength of the Alton pack prevailed in the last ten minutes when the loss of Steve Duggan for an alleged dangerous tackle on the Alton stand-off early in the half was most noticeable. Two more tries came the way of the visitors to provide them with an unexpected away win.

The message from this poor result is stark--kick your goals and keep fifteen players on the field at all times!!

Winchester 51 pts - Old Wimbledonians 8 pts : Match played 05/02/2011

The Old Boys travelled to Winchester on Saturday still missing a dozen or so injured players , but reinforced by the return of the stocky second row forward Tom Jepps. The first few minutes brought an injury to James Hodgson when he took a hard tackle from the Winchester flanker, who spent the whole game near or over the offside line. Matt Jones came on to substitute and performed quite adequately in the number 10 role.

The first half-hour was evenly fought, with one piece of luck favouring the home side when a Winchester penalty rebounded off the right post wrong-footing the OW defence for a home player to pick up and crash over out on the right for an unconverted try. After twenty minutes Matt Jones replied with a penalty to the visitors for preventing release. Following another ten minutes play the home team went further ahead with a push-over try soon to be followed by another try out on the right following a poor defensive missed hack from an O W defender. Neither of these two tries was converted. Just on half-time, taken after fifty-one minutes , the home scrum-half darted over for a converted try which brought the interval score to 22-3 to the home side.

The second period saw the lively Tom Jepps receive a nasty rib injury to be replaced by Richard Neish. However, the Old Boys forwards put up a magnificent display of courage and physical effort and took the match to the opposition. They stole two Winchester scrum put-ins and also two opposition line-outs and fought like dervishes for every ball. However, the strong breeze now favoured the home side and the OWs in their keenness gave away far too many penalties conceding chunks of ground keeping the pressure on themselves in last ditch defence. Every man in the pack was a hero, but the home backs ran the ball strongly at the visitors who gave way four more times in the second period. Two of these were scored by the scrum half who was a thorn in the Old Boys flesh all afternoon.

At least this week we travelled with seventeen players - although this is still one short of the permitted eighteen. However, another important injury suffered, although your correspondent is informed that James Hodgson should be OK to play in the vital away game next Saturday.

Old Wimbledonians 0 pts - Camberley 57 pts : Match played 29/01/2011

The Old Boys once again disappointed their faithful band of supporters with a display of two halves on Saturday. In the first period they played a strong forceful game not allowing league second placed Camberley to settle, even forcing them into jittery errors. However despite a tragic injury to Craig Starling, just back in the side following a fifteen week lay-off through injury, after an early penalty the visitors had to wait until the thirty-sixth minute to cross the home team's line, with a converted try. This brought the interval score to 10-0 to the visitors.

So far so good! All to play for still!!

However the second half was a different story. The greater power and organisation of the Camberley pack secured constant possession which they ran at the OW backs. Many brave tackles were made but the excellent angles of running of the experienced Camberley outfit proved too good for the makeshift home back line. The forwards fought hard, Taz Habib and Steve Duggan always to the fore.

In the tight their own ball came back slowly, whereas the ball won by Camberley came back through channel one quickly. The forwards in general gave a satisfactory account of themselves in the second period, but despite much good work in the backs seven tries, six converted, were run in by the opposition.

It is absolutely vital that as well as a full fifteen of starters the team is backed by the permitted three on the bench. This week's game would not have been won but surely the introduction of some fresh legs could have reduced the deficit if those agreed as bench support had turned up. We must start with eighteen in all.

Fordingbridge 26 pts - Old Wimbledonians 26 pts : Match played 22/01/2011

The Old Boys escaped with a fortuitous draw against strugglers Fordingbridge on Saturday with a last minute face saving penalty from James Hodgson. This was a fixture that beforehand would have gone down as a banker to win and in the event after a half-time lead of ten points should have been a triumph. We must expect players to make themselves available for all league fixtures; it is necessary to take a full complement of eighteen participants to all matches. If this had been the case this week a win would have ensued and an injured player would not have felt the need to stay on the field to complete the game!

The OWs started brightly and following five/six phases of retained possession quickly won ball was fed through several pairs of hands before Nick Caplin handed a scoring pass to Paddy Donaghy on the right. This try was well converted by James Hodgson. The home side retaliated promptly following a sloppy restart to score a penalty. However, the Old Boys came back and camped in the Fordingbridge twenty-two yard area. Once again, some good interpassing made ground to the left for skipper Matt Lucas to cruise over. This try was also converted handsomely by James Hodgson. However, the home side clawed their way back into the game with a try from a quickly taken penalty to catch the OWs defence napping.

With Matt Lucas leaving the field injured and Paul Galvin suffering a hamstring tear some positional changes led to Paul Galvin being hidden in the forwards but staying on. The OWs never got going in the second half, making some elementary errors to bring the home side back into the game. Fordingbridge took the lead for the first time in the match at 26-23 whilst the visitors were down to fourteen men. However, some of the Old Boys best rugby occurred in the last 3/4 minutes. Several phases of strong running and interpassing took them into the opposition twenty-two and this pressure brought a penalty award which James Hodgson duly slotted to save the game. A full squad of eighteen would almost certainly have secured the win.

Old Wimbledonians 23 pts - London South Africa 8 pts : Match played 15/01/2011

The Old Boys returned to winning ways on Saturday with a satisfactory if uninspiring victory over bottom placed London South Africa. The visitors came with a solid, bustling set of forwards intent on a close driving game without the ambition to use their backs for attacking moves. This win elevates the OWs to eighth place in the league, although a greater killer instinct is required to go for the four-try bonus point especially when their back line is so superior to their opposition.

Two early penalties from James Hodgson at stand-off half gave the home side some reward for early pressure. Before half-time two spectacular, well worked tries from Matt Lucas and Jamie Crone, neither of which was converted by James Hodgson, were answered by an LSA penalty to make the mid-point score 16-3 to the home team. It was pleasing to see Richard Delfino back in the team after a long injury break, and an encouraging start to new second row recruit Liam Nicholson who after missing 2-3 seasons rugby was tiring towards the end.

After the interval the Old Boys handed the initiative over to the visitors who did most of the attacking. However, despite some desperate defence from the likes of Phil Read, Sam Biss and Steve Duggan they were only able to respond with one unconverted try. Towards the end of a disappointing half OWs extended their lead to fifteen points courtesy of a superlative try from George Attipoe at his dancing best. This effort was converted by James Hodgson. Matt Lucas and Jamie Crone once again were evident in the build-up to this game-saving try.

Petersfield 41 pts - Old Wimbledonians 0 pts : Match played 8/01/2011

This was the most disappointing league result for several years , achieved against an average Petersfield fifteen, who with the correct decisions made by the OW backs against them in the first fifteen minutes could have been dead and buried by half-time. The worst aspect of the result was the abject lack of fitness which enabled three of the opposition six tries to be scored in the last five minutes. By and large the forwards acquitted themselves satisfactorily, the set scrummage being solid and pushing the home pack sideways and backwards regularly.

The front row of Dom Pierce, Francis D'Souza and Nick Caplin thrived, with good support from Matt Bell and Phil Reid, whilst the back row harassed the opposition backs into several mistakes. The line-out went well with plentiful ball supplied by Taz Habib and Steve Duggan. However, it was at half-back and in the centre that OWs never settled, and despite several incursions from Jamie Crone at full-back the correct rugby decision was always elusive. Thus the ball rarely came into the hands of Paddy Donaghy or George Attipoe, both with match winning pace on the wings. It was these same backs who had torn the Old Wellingtonian defence to shreds in their previous outing!

The score at half-time was a penalty goal to nil to the home side who then scored thirty-eight unanswered points from six tries, four converted, in the second period. Some serious attention to training matters is necessary if the team is to secure the three/four victories required to remain in this league for another season.

Old Wimbledonians 27 pts - Old Wellingtonians 24 pts : Match played 11/12/2010

After a dismal run of four consecutive heavy losses the Old Boys returned to winning ways on Saturday with a hard fought victory over third-placed Old Wellingtonians. The team welcomed back Steve Duggan to action after missing eight weeks through injury. The victory was earned by a thoroughly competitive performance from the forwards, of whom Phil Read, Sam Biss and Dominic Pierce stood out, plus some scintillating back play in the backs with Paddy Donaghy in prime finishing form.

The early play did not encourage home supporters, one of whom was heard to mutter 'here we go again' when a visiting centre burst through a flimsy OW tackle to run thirty yards to score an unlikely try which was converted. The play in the early stages was dominated by Wellingtonians as the home side started slowly taking a while to shake the recent inactivity out of their legs. However, Francis D'Souza and Taz Habib were more quickly into their stride than most and were seen to good effect around the pitch. The O Ws came into the game gradually and equalled the scores after fifteen minutes with a try following a good handling movement from side to side of the pitch the ball ending up with winger Paddy Donaghy in the centre who dummied and shimmied over the visitors line to the left of the posts for James Hodgson to convert. Just five minutes later constant pressure near the home team line found their defence breached for the second time for a Wellingtonian flanker to force his way over for another converted try. As the half time interval approached Wimbledonians took a deserved lead with two spectacular tries to gain a seven point interval advantage. The first of these tries followed a midfield turnover of Wellingtonian ball with Tom Harwood, James Hodgson and Matt Jones combining down the right to put Paddy Donaghy away and with a slick inside pass Al Horley went over. The second started in a similar way but with a burst of Chris Ashton-like speed Paddy Donaghy sprinted home on his own. James Hodgson converted both tries.

Early on in the second period the visitors came back and were unlucky not to score a try, but the resultant pressure caused an OW forward to linger offside giving an easy penalty to Wellingtonians. Play continued evenly, the home forwards battling courageously against a larger pack although appearing slightly the fitter outfit. However, a near shattering blow was suffered by Wimbledonians when the opposition scored a scrappy try with six minutes only to go. This effort was converted giving the visitors a three point lead. However, the home team came back and exerted great pressure which forced two penalties to be awarded to them each of which was kicked by stand-off James Hodgson to complete a satisfactory three point victory.It must be mentioned that Jamie Crone is playing some of his best rugby and the ball fielding of George Attipoe was mercurial.

Old Wimbledonians 7 pts - Teddington 57 pts : Match played 20/11/2010

The Old Boys played newcomers Teddington on Saturday with still a great number of injuries and non-availabilities affecting selection. Selection difficulties were compounded by the fact that Teddington remained undefeated in their first eight games of the season and were league leaders.

It would not be correct to say that this massive defeat by a margin of fifty points contained much to be satisfied about, but the team coaches admitted afterwards that there were some pleasing aspects. The taking into contact and rucking of the lightweight OW pack caused the visitors some concern from time to time and especially in the second half a number of rucks were won and progress made through the backs. Furthermore, on several occasions the home team's rolling maul took play out of the danger zone near their own line. Sam Biss, Phil Read and Matthew Bell were especially noticeable on these occasions.

However, the greater weight and experience of the Teddington forwards forced some fundamental errors from the Old Boys, whose tackling under constant pressure gave way a number of times. Many of the Teddington tries were scored from long range following strong home team attacks. The half-backs Tom Harwood and skipper Matt Lucas played their hearts out usually receiving the ball going backwards. The visitors scored four tries in each half converting seven of them altogether. The high point of the first period was some deft play by the Old Boys backs resulting in Paddy Donaghy on the right scoring a superb try sprinting down the touchline to beat the visiting defence to the line. Tom Harwood added the conversion points. One other scintillating move in the centre saw the visiting defence split wide open with one pass left for a run in try. However, the pass was dropped. This typifies the way things are going for the Old Boys at present.

Old Wimbledonians 7 pts - Winchester 41 pts : Match played 30/10/2010

Once again after a gap of three years the Old Boys met former foes Winchester , newly relegated from London 2 South-West. Once again the Old Boys were overpowered by a physically stronger and bulkier set of forwards , although evenly matched in the backs. The possession won by the home forwards was generally taken on the retreat and therefore rather scrambled and frantic.

Following on from last week there were nearly a dozen first team players either not available or injured - one of the worst runs in recent memory. However Matt McHale was persuaded down from University to help out, whilst Tom Connolly played his first game since incurring a serious ankle injury in early February and Richard Travers returned for a cameo appearance after six weeks out. It is hoped that skipper Matt Lucas and 2nd Row Richard Delfino will be back for the next round of league matches.

The visitors started briskly gaining plentiful possession, forwards and backs combining well and sending the ball wide for it to be returned infield. It was obvious that the home side were in for an afternoon of defensive rugby. This early pressure brought a try after five minutes and the home defence gave way regularly to produce a score of 24-0 to the visitors at half-time. It has to be said that Matt Jones, George Attipoe and Matt Bell were unflinching in their tackling otherwise a much higher score would have resulted.

The second half was a much more encouraging affair with a good deal better attacking performance by the Old Wimbledonians. The visitors seemed to tire and the home forwards came more into their own. Tom Jepps and Sam Biss made several forays into enemy territory and in the backs Jamie Crone and Paddy Donaghy made some silky runs. One try was scored by Donaghy , converted by James Hodgkinson , and the winger should have had another but for a dropped pass.

Not all is doom and gloom after two heavy defeats; within the next week or two several injured players should return and once the forwards are reinforced a better account will be given of themselves.

Old Wimbledonians 8 pts - Camberley 55 pts : Match played 23/10/2010

Before this match the Old Boys were one league position behind second placed Camberley and with equal league points. At the conclusion of the game there should not have been a forty-seven point difference between two sides so closely positioned in the league table.

The team are riven with with injuries including a skipper who has not been able to take the field yet and a vice-captain who has played only two out of the six games. Furthermore , recently signed star back row/second row forward Craig Starling and recently returned No 8 Steve Duggan both missed this match through injury. The latter two have been the stand out forwards in the early part of the season.

Additionally , three front row forwards, Nick Caplin, Roberto Bruno and Dom Pierce were not around and various others were attending family functions.

However help was at hand! Veterans Ed Heaver and Des Nangle each played a full eighty minutes and the rather less than fully fit Rory O'Reilly held up one side of the set scrum. Richard O'Brien once again came in at full back. Despite the much changed nature of the side an enormous amount of tackling and whole-hearted defensive work was done , although usually after a period of full-on pressure from the home team there were enough gaps in the overworked defence for Camberley to pour through.

The OWs opened the scoring with a well-struck Hodgson penalty , who reached his fifty points for the season. They also scored the final points of the match with an alert Nangle popping over the line from some way out to touch down for a try.

However the visitors were still some way short of the losing bonus point.

Old Wimbledonians 41 pts - Fordingbridge 19 pts : Match played 09/10/2010

The Old Boys secured a spectacular win on Saturday with a glorious spell of attacking 15-man in the final quarter of the match. Having been behind at half-time and still in arrears with eighteen minutes to go the OWs played some scintillating rugby to take apart a visibly tiring visiting side. The only bad news from the performance was that of serious injuries to Craig Starling, rapidly becoming a star forward, and Nick Caplin, the former with a nasty -looking knee injury and the hooker suffering concussion.

The first fifteen minutes was all Fordingbridge, their early arrival at the ground proving beneficial as they took the play to the home side. The OWs held out with some desperate defence but finally succumbed to a maul on the left with the visiting scrum-half nipping over for a try which went unconverted. This score was answered quickly by the Wimbledonians following a deliberate knock-on when James Hodgson kicked a good penalty. Half way through this first period a magnificent scything break by the mercurial Matt Jones with ship on to Alex Horley enabled the centre to go over for the first home team try. This was converted by the ever reliable Hodgson. However,just before the break the opposition scored from a set scrum the home side marking being unusually slack; this was converted to to give the visitors a 12-10 half time lead.

The second period started with a magnificent kick by Hodgson, reminiscent of Brian Mullen in his pomp. The forty-five yard kick was in response to a Fordingbridge forward preventing release from a ruck.Ten minutes of concentrated pressure from the visiting forwards and backs alike turned the tide of the match in favour of the Hampshire side and when they scored a converted try to give them a 19-13 lead things looked black for the Old Boys. However magnificent all-round performances from Steve Duggan at No 8 and Matthew Bell in the second row threw bodies at the rampant visitors who struggled to find an opening.

With thirteen minutes to go a deft interception by Jamie Crone and a chase nearly the length of the field followed by a maul and a ruck saw the ball go from Jones to Horley who went over near the posts. Three more converted tries were scored by Horley with another breakaway effort; George Attipoe following a shimmy and pass from Jones and the try of the match by Paddy Donaghy following a pick-up and pop pass from Duggan.

In the end the home team ran out worthy winners, their superior fitness proving the difference overall. Once again Hodgson at No 10 benefitted from a first class service from Tom Hayward and Sam Biss and Tom Jepps were involved in every move.

Old Wimbledonians 32 pts - London South Africa 12 pts : Match played 02/10/2010

Up against a large and aggressive pack OWs held their own in the tight and although having all the possession and most of the territory but once again were guilty of trying to play fair weather rugby in the very wet conditions. London South Africa went 7 to nil up after a mistake in our midfield was fly hacked through with their speedy No.13 winning the race to the touch down. OWs responded pretty quickly with a fine try finished off by Paddy Donaghy. LSA responded with some stern defence and created the turn over for a replica of the 1st try again scored by their No.13. With time running out before half time OWs were awarded a kick in front of the post which James Hodgson duly converted - half time 10 - 12 down.

After some strong words at halftime about playing territory OWs came out fired up but were to concede a penalty for off side in the 1st minute. However, that was to spur the OWs on and from then on it was pretty much one way traffic. The forwards were controlling things with Sam Blissful and Craig Starling to the fore. It was the backs who were mainly to finish of some very fine rugby with Jamie Crone scoring 2 crackers, Tom Harwood and big Dom Pierce getting one for the front row union who were outstanding again. Our second half performance was excellent; coming back from being down again showed great team spirit.

Old Wimbledonians 22 pts - Petersfield 19 pts : Match played 25/09/2010

The Old Boys maintained their 100% unbeaten home record on Saturday with a scrambled victory over newly promoted visitors Petersfield. Several enforced changes were made as a result of injuries incurred in last week's game. Robbie Westacott, Ed Connolly and Tom Harwood came in for the missing Tom Wheeler, Matt Jones and Richard Travers in the backs whilst in the pack Tom Jepps returned for Richard Delfino and Rob Bruno completed a front row comprised of three props in the absence of hooker Nick Caplin. Each deputised more than adequately and the back-row, especially Sam Biss at No 6 gave the visiting half-backs a torrid time all match.

From the kick-off the home team started brightly throwing the ball about sensibly and making ground with ball in hand. However after ten minutes or so they became a little over confident and the visitors scored a break-away try to take the lead against the run of play.The try was converted. This success boosted the confidence of the Hampshire outfit who put the home team under enormous pressure, camping in their 22 yard area for some quarter of an hour or so. Eventually the pressure could be contained no longer and the visitors scored their second try which was not converted giving them a 12-0 lead.

However the Old Boys were not daunted and the second quarter of the match saw a purple patch of back play with excellent handling and some forceful incursions into the back line from full-back Tom Crone. After twenty-five minutes the ball went down the line and some excellent interpassing saw George Attipoe score out on the left following a scintillating sprint for the line. With just a few minutes to go to the interval a line-out steal by the impressive Craig Starling saw the ball sent down the line and Crone with a strong run forced his way over in the right corner for the ever-reliable James Hodgson to slot a difficult conversion. This gave the home team a slender but deserved 14-12 half-time lead.

The second period started brightly for the Old Boys; two successful line-outs to Starling and Matt Bell on the right enabled Hodgson to get the line working over towards the left . However a speculative inside pass enabled the Petersfield winger to intercept and run half the length of the pitch to score a try which was converted to encourage the visitors with a five point lead. Play was end to end with a good supply of the ball won by the hard working home forwards being spun out by the OW revelation Hodgson at No 10 with wingers Attipoe and Paddy Donaghy receiving several passes and opportunities to run.

With fifteen minutes remaining another brilliant back move saw Attipoe sprint over once more for an unconverted try to equalise the scores. With just ten minutes to go the home side were awarded a penalty for a Petersfield forward preventing release of the ball.This was safely kicked by Hodgson to give the O W s a slender lead which they managed to hang on to until the end.

Starling and Steve Duggan were the pick of the forwards who held their own for eighty minutes and gave the backline plenty of possession to show their paces.

Old Wimbledonians 1st XV 9 pts - Sandown & Shanklin 3 pts : Match played 11/09/2010

The Old Boys started their 2010/11 league campaign with a narrow home win against last seasons promotion chasers Sandown & Shanklin.

Not a try was scored in the whole eighty minutes of the game, although the home defence was put under extreme pressure in the final fifteen minutes and with some good fortune survived. The down side was that they gave away a penalty four minutes from the end which enabled the visitors to come away with a bonus point.

Three new recruits made their league debuts for the home team. Craig Starling came into the second row and James Hodge and Gary Rosewarne were introduced at stand-off and centre respectively. Each made a powerful contribution to the team effort and will have an important part to play throughout the season. Hodge in particular settled in well scoring all the points with a secure kicking style which landed three penalties, the first of which was from fifty yards.

The OW lineout performed well and stole a couple of the opposition throws. However the old scrummaging faults appeared once more and at times Frankie D'Souza on the tight-head side found it difficult to control the visiting loose-head prop and skipper. The back row combined well although Tom Jepps had to be replaced following a nasty elbow injury. The returning Steve Duggan was always to the fore and put in some impressive hits.

The game in general was scrappy and neither side was able to exert mistake-free pressure. Many penalties were conceded by both sides and the game rarely provided any continuity. Frustration crept in and each side had a player sin-binned for repeated infringement on the ground. However as the game wore on the Old Boys defence was solid and despite a few scary moments was not found wanting.