Last Updated: Thursday, 22 October 2009

MATCH REPORTS 2009/2010

With the defeat against Imperial Medics still fresh in the collective memory, the following fixture against London NZ was the chance to salvage team pride and put the season back on track. The weather was more in keeping with the time of year than the week before, for which the forwards seemed grateful, and following a well-drilled warm-up the Hammers took to the pitch with obvious intent.

Having won the toss the Hammers elected to kick and had the benefit of the wind in the first half. The opening exchanges was frenetic and neither side seemed to have settled to their pattern when the referee gave a shrill blast on his whistle to indicate an infringement at the breakdown by the home team and, despite the wind the penalty was duly converted to open the scoring.

There ensued a high number of set pieces with the Hammers largely in the ascendency through pressure and possession. A brace of chips from their fullback with lucky bounces saw the home team having to defend their own line however the back row, who were outstanding all game, turned over the ball and Speedo cleared. Minutes later, shortly before the half-time whistle Speedo stepped up to punish an NZ misdemeanour at a ruck and the game was level.

Frustrated at not converting pressure into points the Hammers came out after half-time with renewed focus and the crowd were treated to some excited forward and back interplay with Hugh "Lumberjack" Campbell displaying some deft handling to release Neil ' Troy' McClure and some straight running (although initially "straight" across the pitch...) from "The Face" gaining considerable ground.  Barrry "The Boulder" O'Sullivan led a marauding charge down the left flank earning a 2-on-1 however his vision was still impaired following his fight with a German automobile and pass met grass. Continued pressure from a dominant scrum led to quick ball for the back line in the opponents 22m. Ben "Where's Adam" Rumble once again used the one-handed feint to ghost past the outside shoulder of his opposite man and cross the white-wash for the first try of the game. Unfortunately Speedo had mistakenly selected the 60 degree loft rather than the necessary 5 iron and the score remained 8-3.

Despite the additional points the Hammers needed an extra score to feel safe and, as the penalty count against them rose it looked like the match might go down to the wire. It turned out to be the case with the home team camped in the opposition 22m for lengthy periods but unable to unlock the tenacious kiwi defense. Finally a 5m scrum was called where the pack looked certain to score a pushover try but, picking up from No. 8, Barry the Boulder was stopped with inches to spare, resulting in another scrum. This time surely the pushover was a dead cert? But the Boulder had contracted white-line fever and was once more on the charge. Securing quick ball from the ensuing ruck the ball found its way into the hands of Speedo who scuttled over for the try which was to be one of the final moves of the encounter. He stepped up and converted like a conquistador in an Argentinian village. The whistle went shortly thereafter and the Hammers celebrated a return to winning ways.

The Scribe

Tries: Ben "Where's Adam" Rumble, James "Speedo" Weeks

Conversions: Speedo (1)

Penalties: Speedo (1)

Man of the match: Ryan "The Face" Dilley

Tin Man: James ‘speedo’ Weeks – taking try scoring credit for the forwards hard work!
 

For the fourth league game in a row, sunshine greeted Hammers to the rugby field in the eagerly anticipated top of the table clash against Imperial Medics.

Due to unavailability and injury, the hammers were forced to make a few changes to the team sheet for this game with Chris “I’ll only be gone four months” Hird returning from a back injury along with season-debutant Hugo “Beetroot” Lowry at Hooker. There was also a new look centre partnership with Simon “needs a nickname” Ringshall teaming up with Tom “Forrest Gump” Parkinson, making room for Adam “McConaughay” Trehane on the wing. John “Wheezy” Hetherington was lured from his hibernation by the morning cloud cover to return to second row.

With the BBC cameras rolling, the game kicked off on the beautiful playing surface where much was expected from the two high-scoring backlines. Unfortunately it was Imperial Medics who delivered.

It didn’t take long for the home team to set the tone of the game with a few sharp breaks resulting in the games first try coming from the deceptively quick hooker who bundled over the line. Hammers were quick to respond and a rare phase of pressure resulted in a penalty from “Speedo”, bringing the game back to 5-3. From there it all started to fall apart. A combination of great line breaks and uncharacteristic missed tackles ensued to keep the score board ticking over in favour of the medics and with another try right on half time the game was all but over.

With nothing to lose, the second half started well for Hammers and some promising back play resulted in two tries in quick succession from Ben “Where’s Adam” Rumble and “Forrest Gump”. However, with the set piece well contested by a big pack and scrums and lineouts going against the head, Hammers were never really in a position to put phases together and despite some determined defence work, a few more tries were conceded leaving the score at a disappointing 69-13.

Hammers are now down in 5th place in the league thanks to the massive points deficit but with a strong performance over the coming weeks, they will be looking to climb back up the table.

The Scribe

Man of the Match:  Alex Scarratt - A strong all round performance from the second row.

Tin Man:  Hugo Lowry – For turning 270 degrees in order to pass the ball off his ‘strong hand’. Over Rumble’s head. And forward. Woeful.

Tries:  Parkinson, Rumble,

Pens :  Weeks (1)

Team:   Hird, Lowry, Blyghton, Scarratt, Hetherington, O'Sullivan, Dilley, Ball, Lines, Weeks, Trehane, Ringshall, Parkinson, Rumble, Kenward, McEachern, Hemmingway, Rigney.

Once again this season, the sun was out to welcome the Hammers to Finchley RFC in a top vs bottom clash.  There was no need for the snorkels this year; the dry lush pitch had the Hammers back three purring with delight.

Team news: Will “Cocktail” Milward returned in the second row fresh from his Bar Flaring course where he was taught how to woo Elizabeth Sue.  “Cocktail” comes in for John “Wheezy” Hetherington who is currently hibernating until the nasty sun goes away.  In the back row, Rory “I tink she like me” Rigney replaces the injured Ryan “The Face” Dilley and Barry “Wine” O’Sullivan moves off the bench to cover for his Mitchell brother, Mark “Kempy“ Hemingway. Finally, Ali “One gun” Lines rolls back time (and wrinkles) to reclaim the number 9 shirt.

The first half started well with an early break by Ben “Where’s Adam” Rumble, subsequently finished off by Mick “Dundee” McArdle who coolly ignored the four man overlap to crash over under the posts.  Finchley came back strongly putting the Hammers under increasing pressure and scoring a try of their own under the posts.   The Hammers scrum however proved to be dominant throughout the game.  An early win against the head followed by a series of offloads between backs and forwards created a try for Jack “Needs a nickname” Sergent and prompted the champagne corks to pop.   Hugh “Lumberjack” Campbell with skipper Mark “Baloo” Blyghton dealt more misery to the Finchley pack allowing “One gun” to stroll over for his first of three tries.  Tom “Legs” Kenward scrapped his chipping strategy of last week to finish off another slick move in the backs just before halftime. Having positioned his car behind the posts, James “Speedo” Weeks thought better of converting his kicks again.  His opposite man however had no such issues slotting a 40m drop goal along with several well struck penalties to keep the home side in touch at half time.

In the second half, the Hammers looked to use the slope advantage however a dogged Finchley side kept the away side at bay in the early encounters until Barry “Wine” O’Sullivan finally went over the line to silence the ever growing Finchley support.  This spurred the Hammers on and “Where’s Adam” showed his lethal finishing skills on the wing to score under the posts and put the away side out of reach.  A final war cry from the skipper “Baloo” paved the way for the oldest man in the team, “One gun”, to score two more ties and cap off a superb return to the first team. 

The Hammers finished the game 50-19 victors.  Particular mention should go to “One Gun” producing an excellent performance at scrum-half, Tom “Forest Gump” Parkinson for numerous line breaks, solid defence and try assists, and the front row unit of “Lumberjack”, “Dundee” and “Baloo” who were dominant throughout the game. The Hammers now have a two week break before the eagerly anticipated top of the table clash with Imperial Medics.

The Scribe
 
Man of the Match: Ali “One Gun” Lines  - Where is the jug?

Tin Man: Alex Scarett for wearing a ball on his head straight from the kick off a-la John Terry

Tries: McArdle, Sergent, Lines (3), O’Sullivan, Kenward, Rumble,

Con: Weeks (4), Sweeting (1)

Pens : n/a

Team: Campbell, McArdle, Blyghton, Milward, Scaratt, O’Sullivan, Rigney, Ball, Lines, Weeks, Parkinson, Sweeting, Sergent, Rumble, Kenward, Harrington, MacEachern and Ringshall

[NB. Tom “Legs” Kenward shall be know as Tom “Chips” Kenward for the purpose of this match report]
 
The sun was shining for the first home game of the new season as Hammers welcomed a newly promoted and confident Chiswick team to Hurlingham Park. The warm up went well with the boys sporting the new HFRFC club stash.
 
The first half started well with early pressure from the kick off creating a couple of early penalty chances, which were unfortunately hoofed wide by James “Speedo” Weeks. The pressure continued though with some good team play until Mark “Cyril Sneer” Sweeting popped up at first receiver and after a well executed loop threw a delayed pass to Tom “Chips” Kenward to go over from 5 metres out. James “Speedo” Weeks converted. Chiswick started to up their game and Hammers went a little quiet for a period with some uncharacteristic mistakes across the park which led to two tries for the visitors, giving them a 14-7 lead at half time.
 
After a frank and honest team talk from Mark “needs a new nickname other than Skip” Blyghton, JPG and Dave, the Hammers took to the field for the second half. The team talk had worked, as Hammers showed some great link play amongst the forwards and a few 40 metre runs from Ben “Where’s Adam” Rumble. This led to sustained period of possession and territory, which gave the Hammers a lineout 10 metres from the Chiswick line. The lineout was clean and the forwards showed all their power and technique to drive over with Ryan “the Face” Dilley coming away with the try. “Speedo” converted. The game was poised nicely at 14-14 as the Hammers continued the pressure. After some good phase play and patience from the Hammers, Ryan “The Face” Dilley popped up in the centre to score his second try under the posts. “Speedo” converted. On to the field came the Irish contingent of Barry “Wine” O’Sullivan and Rory “I tink she like me” Rigney, replacing John “Wheezy” Hetherington and “The Face”.
 
After this the Hammers continued to build the pressure both in attack and defence and shortly after scored another try with Tom “Forrest Gump” Parkinson chasing and receiving a kick over their backline. “Speedo” converted.
 
Chiswick then threw everything at the Hammers for the last 15 minutes with the Hammers defence standing up strongly. Particular mention should go the Mark “new nickname required” Hemingway for some important turnovers and tackles as well as the centre partnership of “Cyril Sneer” and “Forest Gump”. The discipline lapsed a couple of times with Mick “Dundee” McArdle being sin binned with 10 minutes to go. This only spurred on the other 7 forwards to take the only ‘against the head’ scrum of the game, allowing the Hammers to clear their line.
 
The Hammers held on with some good defence and fitness to win the game 28-14. A great win taking the Hammers to the top of the league after two games.

The Scribe
 

Man of the Match: Ryan Dilley.   An excellent game as well as two tries

Tin Man: Tom Kenward.   For deciding to chip kick at every opportunity just because he had seen it work in the Tri-Nations on Saturday morning.

Tries: Kenward, Dilley (2), Parkinson

Con: Weeks (4)

Pens (including warm up): Weeks (0/23)

Team: Campbell, McArdle, Blyghton, Hetherington, Scaratt, Hemmingway, Dilley, Ball, Clark, Weeks, Parkinson, Sweeting, Sergent, Rumble, Kenward, Trehane, Rigney, O’Sullivan

Hammersmith & Fulham 30  :  Grasshoppers  7

Saturday 12th Septemebr 2009

London 2 North West

Away

After a long and rigorous pre-season the Hammers took to the field in anger for the first time.  Against a Grasshoppers side that finished several places above them last season.  With JPG returning to the fold alongside Dave Mannion and Mark Blyghton deciding to take another term at first team captain, a Hammers side with a few new faces took to the freshly aerated ground in Isleworth.

In his first act of captaincy Blyghts lost the toss and the home side decided to receive and play up the hill.  From the kick off the Hammersmith forwards showed they were not to be pushed around.  In a show of force Barry “Wine” O’Sullivan, Nick “Lego” Ball and Ryan “The Face” Dilley nailed the opposition blindside who fumbled the ball, from the resulting scrum a penalty was conceded and James “Speedo” Weeks duly converted.  Grasshoppers began to show their route one game plan, trying to knock back the Hammersmith inside defence with little gain.  During these moments was the only lapse of the day in the Hammers defence, from a set piece they were found short on the openside with the winger finishing of a good move to score a converted try Grasshoppers were up 7-3.  After this moment the Hammers turned on the style and the backs showed a fresh turn of pace, “Speedo” finishing off good phase play but missing the conversion Hammers up 8-7.

With the backs moving across the gainline with ease, particularly through Tom “Needs a New Nickname” Parkinson and Ben “Where’s Adam” Rumble, the Hammersmith forwards were inspired to release quick ball and continue to disrupt the Grasshoppers lineout.  Particularly at the front where Will “Cocktail” Milward was a particular nuisance stealing a number of Grasshoppers throws with one leading to man-of-the-match Tom “Legs” Kenward opening his account for the season.

On the half hour with the Hammers 13-7 up, a welcome return to Chris “I’ll only be gone four months” Hird was cut short due to a back injury.  This led to the introduction of Hugh “Nickname Pending” Campbell, a welcome addition to the front row.  Grasshoppers continued to attempt to blast through the midfield but the Hammers defence was more than man enough and the half ended 13-7 to the Hammers.

With Hammersmith now playing up the hill the home side were looking to press home there weight advantage up front, but with the away side in such a defiant mood it was only a matter of time before the big men of Grasshoppers would tire in the heat.  With an improved scrum the hammers began to turn the screw and from a lineout “Pending” scored on his debut from a maul driven over from 10 meters.  This brought a tear to the eye of the tight five, who suffered from a lack of scoring opportunities last season.  Helped on by Ian Burbedge’s gruelling fitness sessions Hammersmith continued to dominate possession and territory.  A late try to top a fine performance by “The Face” was converted by “Speedo” who added a late penalty to bring his tally to 15 points for the day.

A hugely rewarding scoreline of 30-7 was the result of the hard preseason by the players and the coaches, particularly of Dave Manion who has had to coach over 70 players single handed during the summer.  Plus, having had to make changes to the picked side due to hamstrings and late illness made the result even sweeter.

The Scribe

Man of the Match: Tom Kenward.  For another fine display from fullback.

Tin Man:  James Weeks.  A man of high standards was unfortunate to receive this award.  He will have his eye in for the next game.

Debuts:  Hugh Campbell, Mick McArdle, Will Milward

Team:  Hird, McArdle, Blyghton, Milward, O’Sullivan, Hemmingway, Dilley, Ball, Clark, Weeks, Trehane, Sweeting, Parkinson, Rumble, Kenward, Campbell, Petelo, Hamnett

FOURTH XV

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