Returning from a cultural exchange rugby tour to Hamburg over Easter it was back to league action for the Hammers. The wind was pretty strong into the faces of the home side so it promised to be a tough opening forty to blow the cobwebs out of the returning tourists.

Unfortunately it looked like the home side had got back from Hamburg the night before the game rather than the week before! Enfield set about establishing dominance in all facets of the game. The were disrupting and winning Hammersmith set piece ball with gay abandon and then using the wind to continually push deep in to the opposition half.

All the pressure began to tell and visitors chalked up their first try and a couple of penalties. Matters were not helped when James ‘City Break’ Leach was on the receiving end of what many thought was a cynical piece of obstruction from a restart. The Enfeild front rower doing a very passable impression of the serial cheater Serge ‘Constantly Blocking from restarts’ Betson. Unfortunately for the Hammers and even more unfortunately for ‘City Break’ not only was the penalty not given, ‘City Break’ sustained a nasty injury to his ankle and had to be replaced. It was noted by the physio that if ‘City Break’ had had fractionally more muscle supporting his pins he may have got away it. Unfortunately as we all know, he has as much meat on his legs as those sported by Posh Spice after a particularly fierce diet. Out for the rest of the season. ‘Hatchet’ Neilson replaced Leachy but unfortunately he didn’t last too long either. After being on the receiving end of a super bosh from the Enfield scrum half he had to retire to the side lines, dazed and probably a little bit embarrassed. Luckily there he had the company of his long time second row colleague Leachy and they were able to hold and reassure each other about how cruel a mistress rugby can be. Some rejigging was needed in order to complete a front 8 that resembled a normal pack after losing two second rowers.

The pressure continued to come on to the home side and more points were leaked. In the end it took some pretty fierce goal line defense to only limit Enfield to two tries. At half time Hammersmith were 6 – 17 down.

Although there was a significant difference to make up the mood during the half time chat was upbeat as we knew all that was required was to tighten up the set piece and use the wind.

And that was exactly what was delivered. The Hammers played the second half to a tee and began chipping away at the deficit. James ‘Sweaky’ Weeks missed a few penalties but was still presented with enough shots to get the Hammers back into the game.

The match turning moment then came. After a good line out on the right hand side around the Enfield 22, the Hammers launched an attack up the mid field. The ball was recycled quickly and John Mowbray took a pop off Sweaky Weeks and made further ground. Again the ball was recycled quickly. Sweaky Weeks made use of the good ball and slipped through the defensive line. Adam ‘The Gob’ Wotton ran a decent support line off Sweaky and crossed the whitewash for an excellent team score. Just as everyone was expecting The Gob to dot the ball down in a normal manner he crowned the score with a bit of unnecessary show boating with a Joe Rokocoko-esque dive and a mid air cheesy grin to the opposition. The banter in the changing room after the game was that this piece of showmanship was for the benefit of his opposite number on the Enfield left wing who The Gob had been having a very vocal ongoing battle with all game.

This score enabled The Hammers to draw level at 17 – 17. More pressure from the home side nearly resulted a second try but unfortunately John ‘hands like feet’ Mowbray fluffed his lines with the try line at his mercy. However The Hammers did not have wait too long before another chance presented itself to go ahead. The Gob Wotton was tackled in the air fielding an Enfield clearance kick. This might have had something to do with his previous piece of show boating. Either way, Sweaky Weeks popped over the kick from the 15 metre line on the right for a 20 – 17 lead.

Enfield fought back well and were exerting pressure in the final 10 minutes. For some unknown reason every time Cameron Pfeffer got the ball back at full back, rather than use his howitzer right boot with the wind to clear his lines he kept running the ball back risking a turnover and the game. However The Hammers held out for a nervy win showing good spirit and an ability to play the conditions (generally).

The game finished on a slightly sour note when the aforementioned Enfield winger was shown a straight red card for unloading (punches) on The Gob Wotton. We never really got to the bottom of quite what The Gob had done to provoke the outburst of punches but as it was pointed out by keen people watcher, new boy Nick Kirkham, in the changing room after the game, when it is Wotton, is provocation really needed?

Team: Blyghton, Dray, Goggin, Leach, Kirkham, O’Sullivan, Rigney, Mowbray, Lines, Weeks, Djikic, Heyland, Stuart, Wotton, Pfeffer. Welch, Neilson, Olutayo.

Tries: Wotton.    

The Scribe.