Last Updated: Wednesday, 03 October 2007

Hammers Reinstate Authority

By Grant Zany Fiddle

Last Updated: 10:52am BST 30/09/2007

Hammersmith & Fulham 4^th XV (17) 32 - Ealing 3^rd XV (0) 0

Hammersmith & Fulham 4ths finally chased away the shadows of their calamitous defeat against The Black Baa three weeks ago with a six-try demolition of a limited Ealing side at an overcast Hurlingham Park on Saturday.

The Hammers reward is second place in the league behind the afore mentioned Black Baa Baas who carried out a demolition job of their own against Old Hamptonians to seize top spot in the table on points difference.

The home side have traditionally treated this fixture with the utmost respect as Ealing have always proved to be strong opponents. However, history was consigned to the dustbin as the Hammers won comfortably by 32 points against a surprisingly weak visiting side.

The Hammers were solid, if not spectacular, in a first half in which they scored three tries to take a 17- 0 lead into the break. However, they broke out in the second half in what can be described as a schizophrenic performance, at times they played some scintillating stuff and at other times, despite a harvest of possession, were error-prone and inconsistent. On the balance the Hammers will be disappointed not to have scored more then three second half tries.

The home side opened the scoring in the tenth minute with a try through Verdie. From the Hammers scrum right of the posts near the Ealing line the ball was shipped wide though the backs defeating the Ealing cover in the process, an error in the move saw the ball spilled on the deck, fortunately for Verdie it went backwards where he was able to scoop it up at speed and dive over the line virtually unopposed.

The second score was barely minutes later as the Hammers forwards again rumbled up field to stake position deep in the Ealing 22 with the subsequent ruck sucking in defenders. With barely an Ealing player left at the breakdown the enterprising Murray, who was a constant menace with his snipes around the fringe, picked up and touched down for an unconverted try.

Although the Hammers were getting disrupted at the scrum they dominated the line out and the breakdown which allowed play to concentrate mostly in the Ealing half. After another sustained period of pressure by the Hammers, Ealing gifted the home side their third touch down while trying to clear their lines. Instead of kicking to touch the Ealing fly half attempted an outrageous Campese-esque over the shoulder pass which unfortunately was directed at nobody in particular. The grateful Fitzgerald was there to pick up the loose ball and trot over the line for the softest of tries which O’Malley converted.

After the break Ealing continued to put themselves under pressure by failing to win their own line outs, this lack of confidence in their own set piece led them to tap and run any penalty that came their way. This suited the Hammers fine as their defence had been rarely breached all afternoon and with Murray, Phillips and Reynolds regularly turning over Ealing ball the Hammers were constantly threatening on the counter attack.

With confidence growing in their ability to open up the tiring Ealing defence and with the Hammers forwards feeding plenty of quality ball, the backs generated further scores through Jones and Young. Several other long range attacking runs came agonisingly close to crossing the Ealing try line. Some strong direct running and intelligent support play were thwarted by the last pass failing to find hands or by a daft unforced knock on.

Clearly not wanting the backs to have all the fun the Hammers forwards decided to have the final say on proceedings by manufacturing their own score. After several phases of battering the Ealing line it was Phillips who managed to touch down, ably supported by Hamilton who helped bundle the ginger one over.

Tries: Verdie, Murray, Fitzgerald, Jones, Young, Phillips

Cons: O’Malley

Scoring Sequence: 5 – 0, 10 – 0, 12 – 0, 17 – 0, 22 – 0, 27 – 0, 32 – 0

Team: Hamilton, Evans, Woodward, Hare, Reynolds, Phillips, Murray, Powell, Kirkham, BJ O’Malley, Franklin, Fitzgerald (55mins), Verdie (55mins), Young, Jones (55mins)

Replacements: Meuli, Chilton, Dunford, Keen

Email  info@FulhamRugby.co.uk  for further information