Mill Hill

Mill Hill

17th September 2005 (Home)

OLD ASHMOLEANS 41 MILL HILL 10

Ashmole have somewhat of an ongoing romance with the National Cup, it is a competition that always provides them with success, especially for a club so small in stature. The last two seasons had produced brilliant runs with the usual giant killing along the way, last years giants however did not go down as easily and following a bye into the 1st round their first opponents were Mill Hill. Perhaps not a true giant, but they are the winners of the league in which Ashmole now play and to add a bit of spice they are another of the local North London sides, in fact they play 500 yards from Hendon, Ashmoles first league scalp only a week ago.

Both sides started strong, with Ashmole looking particularly comfortable in the pack, arguably their most mobile for some time, with two competent jumpers and the return of firm favourites Seve and Leo.

It was Mill Hill though who took the lead with an early penalty, points on the board can install confidence early on in your side, but unfortunately it seemed to back fire. It was Ashmole who seemed clearly the more confident, largely helped by the solid platform of the forwards, the backs, combined with the back row and began to exploit spaces and it was not long before it paid off.

The first twenty minutes quite clearly belonged to the home side but at the quarter point of the match they lost Seve, to what appeared at first to be a nasty facial injury and then back row Weetbix to a yellow card. Weetbix had retaliated to an incident he saw on the ground involving his skipper Neal Granger, unfortunately the referee was unsighted and only saw Weetbix's outburst, it was mainly harmless but the referee seemed determined to stand for nothing other than good fair rugby.

These two incidents unsettled OA's but despite the clear weight advantage in the pack they managed to hold on until half time without conceding.

Seve was replaced by long term absentee John Bremner who went on to have an outstanding game despite his time out of the side. Hunter and Emile were also both injured which gave Rolly another rare chance at scrum half, the South African had played a couple of times last season during injury stricken periods and once again he came in and delivered an excellent display, he was clearly one of OA's best players on the day. It was his second half try from a brilliantly worked two man lineout (don't ask how it worked, just trust me) that began the onslaught of tries.

The Ashmole fitness showed true for the last period with Mill Hill struggling to keep up with the pace of the game, and when they too lost a forward to the sin bin the task became an uphill struggle.

Ashmole looked rarely tested and began to use the time to perfect moves and tactics but overall it was a much improved performance and one that coach Emile can finally smile about (which he doesn't do often).

He will be particularly pleased with the forwards and despite some key players missing and some players playing out of position (the long awaited return of explosive winger Damian was halted as he was forced to play in the centres due to injuries) he will feel the backs coped well with challenge.

Once again its fingers crossed for the injured few, Seve despite looking like he had told Glynn he was getting fat was given the all clear (no broken bones) and centre James looks to be recovering well from his back injury in time for the league match with Hemel Hampstead.

Tries for the Captain, winger Ryan and centre Dronkie showed that something must be going right despite the missing players and paved the way for what they hope will be another wonderful cup run.


	Hendon \| Mill Hill \| Hemel Hempstead \| Chess Valley \| Grammarians \| Old Haberdashers \| Royston \| Chelmsford \| Old Haberdashers \| Chess Valley Semi Final \| HERTS TROPHY CUP FINAL \| Mersea Island Mill Hill 17th September 2005 (Home) OLD ASHMOLEANS 41 MILL HILL 10 Ashmole have somewhat of an ongoing romance with the National Cup, it is a competition that always provides them with success, especially for a club so small in stature. The last two seasons had produced brilliant runs with the usual giant killing along the way, last years giants however did not go down as easily and following a bye into the 1st round their first opponents were Mill Hill. Perhaps not a true giant, but they are the winners of the league in which Ashmole now play and to add a bit of spice they are another of the local North London sides, in fact they play 500 yards from Hendon, Ashmoles first league scalp only a week ago. Both sides started strong, with Ashmole looking particularly comfortable in the pack, arguably their most mobile for some time, with two competent jumpers and the return of firm favourites Seve and Leo. It was Mill Hill though who took the lead with an early penalty, points on the board can install confidence early on in your side, but unfortunately it seemed to back fire. It was Ashmole who seemed clearly the more confident, largely helped by the solid platform of the forwards, the backs, combined with the back row and began to exploit spaces and it was not long before it paid off. The first twenty minutes quite clearly belonged to the home side but at the quarter point of the match they lost Seve, to what appeared at first to be a nasty facial injury and then back row Weetbix to a yellow card. Weetbix had retaliated to an incident he saw on the ground involving his skipper Neal Granger, unfortunately the referee was unsighted and only saw Weetbix's outburst, it was mainly harmless but the referee seemed determined to stand for nothing other than good fair rugby. These two incidents unsettled OA's but despite the clear weight advantage in the pack they managed to hold on until half time without conceding. Seve was replaced by long term absentee John Bremner who went on to have an outstanding game despite his time out of the side. Hunter and Emile were also both injured which gave Rolly another rare chance at scrum half, the South African had played a couple of times last season during injury stricken periods and once again he came in and delivered an excellent display, he was clearly one of OA's best players on the day. It was his second half try from a brilliantly worked two man lineout (don't ask how it worked, just trust me) that began the onslaught of tries. The Ashmole fitness showed true for the last period with Mill Hill struggling to keep up with the pace of the game, and when they too lost a forward to the sin bin the task became an uphill struggle. Ashmole looked rarely tested and began to use the time to perfect moves and tactics but overall it was a much improved performance and one that coach Emile can finally smile about (which he doesn't do often). He will be particularly pleased with the forwards and despite some key players missing and some players playing out of position (the long awaited return of explosive winger Damian was halted as he was forced to play in the centres due to injuries) he will feel the backs coped well with challenge. Once again its fingers crossed for the injured few, Seve despite looking like he had told Glynn he was getting fat was given the all clear (no broken bones) and centre James looks to be recovering well from his back injury in time for the league match with Hemel Hampstead. Tries for the Captain, winger Ryan and centre Dronkie showed that something must be going right despite the missing players and paved the way for what they hope will be another wonderful cup run.