Last Updated: Monday, 17 September 2007

Fantastic Fours too strong for Uxbridge

By Grant Zany Fiddle

Last Updated: 8:52am BST 17/09/2007

Hammersmith & Fulham 4^th XV (12) 22 Uxbridge (3) 15

Having failed to fend off the physical challenge of The Black Baa Baas the previous week the Hammers were keen to get their early season back on track prior to their first league encounter with Ealing at the end of the month. This they did this with a workman like victory over Uxbridge at Hurlingham Park on Saturday. The Hammers fell behind to an early penalty from Uxbridge in the opening minutes then, having led 22-3 late in the second half, had to withstand a frantic late challenge from the visitors to finally run out 22 – 15 winners.

Although the late second-half resurgence enabled a stubborn Uxbridge to achieve a veneer of respectability to the final score, the manner in which they were cruelly exposed in the line out and ruck throughout the game provided the Hammers many positives to take from the encounter. The Hammers will need to work hard on their discipline however as a slew of careless penalties peppered an otherwise solid performance. Other teams are unlikely to be as forgiving as Uxbridge to such gifts as the season unfolds.

The game started in farcical fashion when Uxbridge’s kit man failed to show up. With the Hammers already kitted in their retro blue away strip referee John Sulola demonstrated the finer egalitarian aspects of the club by offering the semi dressed Uxbridge team Hammersmith’s brand new home kit to wear for the clash….much to the consternation of several home players who felt that it was not fair that that the opposition ‘looked better’ then they did. Keen to ensure that no souvenirs were up for grabs at the end of the fixture the injured pitch side Fitzgerald was doing his best Brian Hanrahan Falklands war correspondent impression to ensure that no shirts were listed as MIA. “I counted them out, and I counted them all back”.

The Hammers endured a shaky opening five minutes as they found themselves defending deep in their own 22. A penalty for hands in the ruck awarded Uxbridge an easy shot at goal which they did not waste time converting to points.

It did not take long for the Hammers to respond, a fine break by Kev O’Malley down the left wing brought play into Uxbridge’s 22 before being bundled into touch. Hammers promptly stole the lineout ball, set up the maul and proceeded to make a purposeful drive towards the try line. Powell peeled off the base only to be felled by a high tackle. Nick Dinning, showing quick awareness, tapped the subsequent penalty and sprinted for the line before offloading to Andy Scott who dived over for the score.

The Hammers continued the pressure on the visitors after the restart, after some fine rucking and recycling by the Hammers forwards the ball found its way to Darrel King who opted to kick to the corner, finding touch 10 meters out from Uxbridge’s line. The Hammers maintained their dominance of the line out by stealing yet another Uxbridge throw. Powell was on hand to receive the subsequent rucked ball to dart over in the corner. BJ O’Malley slotted the conversion from out wide to give the home side a 12 – 3 lead going into the break.

Hammersmith, justifiably aggrieved that the score line was not weighted more in their favour after squandering a number of chances in the first half set out after the break to make amends. After a forwards dominated first half the Hammers started to utilise their back division more. Quicker recycled ball at the breakdown allowed Nick Dinning to ship the ball wide to the backs, this, coupled with straight running and sound off loading ensured that a third try was not long in coming in the form of a Darrel King touch down in the corner. Some good approach work by the forwards and simple through the hands passing in the backs allowed full back Darrel King to come into the line and exploit the overlap.

With Uxbridge only making occasional forays into Hammers territory it was a surprise that it took so long for the home side to extend their lead. Despite winning all their own set piece ball and a fair percentage of Uxbridge’s as well the Hammers contrived make life difficult for themselves by handing over possession in a series of sloppy and avoidable penalties. Although possession was promptly recovered and pressure reasserted on the visitors it felt that the Hammers were going the scenic route to getting that next score. When it did arrive it was a simple sniping break from the base of a ten metre scrum by Nick Dinning.

With the home side dominating both possession and territory it would seem that with a lead of 19 points and less then ten minutes remaining on the clock the game was effectively in the bag. Yet the Hammers were very guilty of letting the opposition back into the match at the death. Uxbridge who at this stage were not keen to run the ball in hand opted for a series of Garryowens, the first bounced horrendously for the covering Darrel King who was helpless as he watched the ball fall beautifully into the hands of the chasing Uxbridge centre who touched down under the posts.

After the restart the Hammers were again complacent by allowing Uxbridge to score an almost identical try. It was alas too little too late for Uxbridge as Andy Scott killed the game off by turning over another Uxbridge ball in the ruck and kicking to touch.

Tries: Scott, Powell, King, Dinning

Cons: O’Malley

Scoring Sequence: 0 – 3, 5 – 3, 10 – 3, 12 – 3, 17 – 3, 22 – 3, 22 – 8, 22 – 10, 22 – 15

Team: Hamilton, Evans, Manuel, Keen, Reynolds, Powell, Scott, Wiseman, Dinning, K O’Malley, Walding, Lam, BJ O’Malley, Meuli, Chilton

Email  info@FulhamRugby.co.uk  for further information