West London

West London

4th September 2004

Friendly Vs West London 2nd Team (away)

Result = 7-29

Ashmole were hoping to continue their winning run of form, but with an ever depleting squad this game was not going to be easy.

OA's needed to produce a big performance and it would be a chance to see if their training since the last couple of games had ironed out the mistakes and errors that so badly hampered them in those matches.

West London would be the test that OA's needed to really kick start a season that would need to deliver so much.

Ashmole were without 6 or 7 players but former OA's centre Stoney came back to help his former side in what could be described as a final farewell tribute. Without doubt Stoney made a big difference to the game and to have him back if only for eighty minutes was a huge bonus for Ashmole.

The first half was very poor from an OA's point of view, West London spent much of their time killing the ball or trying underhand tactics to offset the Ashmole game. But for all their dirtiness they never really threatened the OA's line as the defense stood tall despite all that was going on around them.

Unfortunately, in my opinion the referee was not fully capable of handling the game and it led to a high number of confrontations and eventually resulted to OA's full back Hunter breaking his arm after a high tackle from an opposing player.

The first half ended with OA's behind despite Andy kicking his first penalty of the year, the home side had been gifted an interception to open their account that was somewhat against the run of play.

The second half started much like the first but OA's began stamp their authority on the game, no matter how the opposition attacked or defended Ashmole stayed resilient to their game plan. Despite the lose of Hunter and the shuffling of positions that ensued because of it OA's started to look evermore dangerous and as the forwards dug deep to win as much ball as humanly possibly the backs soon rewarded them with a try.

OA's seemed sparked into life, it was an impressive display, West London were possibly the toughest side Ashmole had faced for quite some time and they certainly pushed them right to the limit, but at a time when good performances were needed OA's came up trumps. A good new line out partnership was formed between hooker Craig and number 8 Tarron, winning 90% of their own ball at number 4, giving the backs encouragement that they can get clean ball. The forwards were impressive too in the mauls, they looked tight and solid especially against an experienced and big pack.

It was also good to see that despite the absentees OA's can rely on players to deliver when it is needed, Andy had a brilliant game at full back filling in for Hunter as well as good performances from Craig and Gert.

Coach Emile was a lot happier with the performance and OA's will certainly take a huge amount of confidence from this game which has come just at the right time with an upcoming away game at Upper Clapton in the cup only two weeks away.

Scorers = Emilex2,Gert,Stoney

Conversions/Pens = Andy consx3, pensx1


	Top Scorers 2004/5 SEASON \| Hendon \| Totts \| Saracens Ams \| Ignations \| Woodford \| Hemel \| Watford \| Totts \| Hackney \| Saracens Ams \| Hendon \| Harrow \| Letchworth \| Watford \| Ilford \| Hatfield \| Upper Clapton \| West London \| Mill Hill \| Aylestone West London 4th September 2004 Friendly Vs West London 2nd Team (away) Result = 7-29 Ashmole were hoping to continue their winning run of form, but with an ever depleting squad this game was not going to be easy. OA's needed to produce a big performance and it would be a chance to see if their training since the last couple of games had ironed out the mistakes and errors that so badly hampered them in those matches. West London would be the test that OA's needed to really kick start a season that would need to deliver so much. Ashmole were without 6 or 7 players but former OA's centre Stoney came back to help his former side in what could be described as a final farewell tribute. Without doubt Stoney made a big difference to the game and to have him back if only for eighty minutes was a huge bonus for Ashmole. The first half was very poor from an OA's point of view, West London spent much of their time killing the ball or trying underhand tactics to offset the Ashmole game. But for all their dirtiness they never really threatened the OA's line as the defense stood tall despite all that was going on around them. Unfortunately, in my opinion the referee was not fully capable of handling the game and it led to a high number of confrontations and eventually resulted to OA's full back Hunter breaking his arm after a high tackle from an opposing player. The first half ended with OA's behind despite Andy kicking his first penalty of the year, the home side had been gifted an interception to open their account that was somewhat against the run of play. The second half started much like the first but OA's began stamp their authority on the game, no matter how the opposition attacked or defended Ashmole stayed resilient to their game plan. Despite the lose of Hunter and the shuffling of positions that ensued because of it OA's started to look evermore dangerous and as the forwards dug deep to win as much ball as humanly possibly the backs soon rewarded them with a try. OA's seemed sparked into life, it was an impressive display, West London were possibly the toughest side Ashmole had faced for quite some time and they certainly pushed them right to the limit, but at a time when good performances were needed OA's came up trumps. A good new line out partnership was formed between hooker Craig and number 8 Tarron, winning 90% of their own ball at number 4, giving the backs encouragement that they can get clean ball. The forwards were impressive too in the mauls, they looked tight and solid especially against an experienced and big pack. It was also good to see that despite the absentees OA's can rely on players to deliver when it is needed, Andy had a brilliant game at full back filling in for Hunter as well as good performances from Craig and Gert. Coach Emile was a lot happier with the performance and OA's will certainly take a huge amount of confidence from this game which has come just at the right time with an upcoming away game at Upper Clapton in the cup only two weeks away. Scorers = Emilex2,Gert,Stoney Conversions/Pens = Andy consx3, pensx1