Hammersmith & Fulham were the victors on a fine day in South West London which deserved a good game of rugby and the modest crowd packed into the even more modest stadium were rewarded with a game that almost saw the Imperial Medics snatch an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Hammers were without their usual captain who was serving a well deserved ban after a nasty bout of 'Angry Little Man Syndrome' but fielded a strong line up and arrived at the ground keen to secure league points with a decisive victory.  Stand in captain City Break Leach made the lads all feel much better about their weekend plans with the news that he was spending his Saturday night in charge of a power point presentation. 

The game started with the Hammers on the back foot for the first ten minutes as the Imperial Medics used their big forwards to good effect driving the ball up well and earning three shots at goal which left them 6-0 up.  A welcome return to the squad of Adam 'The Gob' Wooton was appreciated by all as he sounded off at the referee from the side lines, almost earning himself a caution before even setting foot on the pitch.  The Hammers responded well though and were soon up and running, dominating the breakdown area and putting good phases of rugby together.  Territory and possession were with the Hammers and the Imperial Medics spent the remainder of the half defending gallantly.  Inevitably, the Hammers scored after a well worked move and a little luck enabled Weeksy to loop around the back line collecting his own pass to dot down in the corner.

A penalty from Scott 'Suicide Watch' Foley put the Hammers into the lead and this was swiftly followed up by another score after a brilliant turnover from Simon Ringshall enabled the Hammers to spread the ball wide running out of their own 22 before Dan 'The Jelly Wrestler' Djicik was set free and given the space to run the ball in under the post.  Suicide watch Foley duly missed the most straight forward of kicks from in front of the sticks and was lucky to be given an immediate chance to redeem himself.  The Hammers were awarded a penalty two minutes later five yards in from touch on the 22.  Foley stepped up an reassured us all that he could indeed kick.  Half time and the Hammers were well in control 16 - 6.

The half time interval came and went without incident and without any amusing motivational comments.  The Hammers began the second half in control again and pressing the Imperial Medics into their own half.  Another couple of penalties followed for the Hammers and as the game moved into its final quarter the tide began to change.  Luke Goggin continued his run of bizarre eye injuries with a cut under to his eye lid and Glass Jaw Sweeting soon followed him to the sidelines with knee ligament trouble.  The Imperial Medics began to fight back. 

A series of errors and careless mistakes enabled the home side to crank up the pressure and it was not long before they had scored a well worked try after a some good phases of rugby, keeping the ball alive to score in the corner.  From the kick off the Hammers were back under pressure and a series of scrums on the Hammersmith and Fulham line were not dealt with well with Ed Clarke using one of his fifty yard passes to get the ball to Weeksy for a straightforward clearance.  Weeksy however was stood only ten yards from Clarkey and the ball duly sailed straight over his head and landed by the changing sheds.  The resulting Imperial Medics scrum had the Hammers on the back foot and their No 8 picked up and drove well for the line to score.

The final few minutes saw the Hammers finally regain their composure and they played the game out to its final whistle without any further incident.  In the end, a well deserved, if not slightly uncomfortable victory.  The Hammers almost throwing away a game they were totally in control of.  Credit to the Imperial Medics for a spirited fight back which could with a little luck have seen them snatch victory.

The Hammers:  Scot Foley, Sly Olutayo, Simon Ringshall, Mark Sweeting, Dan Djikic, James Weeks, Ed Clarke, John Mobray, Barry O'Sullivan, Henry Paddison, Alex Nielsen, James Leach, Mark Blyghton, Hugo Lowry, Luke Goggin.  Subs:  Ryan Dilley, Chris Hird, Adam Wooton

Tin Man - The Gob Wooten - is it tourrettes syndrome, is he just a loud mouth Aussie??

Man of the Match - Henry Paddison - great work at the breakdown

The Scribe