Harrow

Harrow

6th November 2004

National Cup 3rd Round Vs Harrow (away)

Result = 8-15

This was the big one for Ashmole, the kind of games the club as started to live for and this was by far their fiercest test to date. Harrow went into the game on the back of a heavy defeat to newly promoted Tring, who also beat Ashmole last year although not so convincingly, but the paper results mean nothing on the day it would come down to who had the desire and belief. OA's on the other hand had a confidence boosting win against Letchworth the week before but the side out against Harrow was very different, they were missing 7 or 8 key players, most of them being forwards. They were however pleased to welcome back fly half and newly appointed Captain Neal Granger who would prove to be a huge asset for them.

It was an extremely tight first half with neither side making any real progress into the oppositions twenty two, despite the bare bones side that Ashmole had out they were giving as good as they got and you could not really point out a winner at any stage of the first forty minutes. It finished 3-3 at the break and the first half had seen Harrow give away penalty after penalty for diving over the top in the rucks and Ashmole slowly beginning to dominate the scrums, both sides were winning their own lineouts but their was no definitive attacking moves, although you felt that either set of backs was capable of something special.

The second half started not dissimilar to the first, but at last the supporters were rewarded with the first try, Harrow's forwards had sucked in the OA's back row at a maul and used the vacant blind side to attack and score in the corner. The conversion was missed and it was not long before Ashmole got themselves back in it with a try from number 8 Seve, playing his first game of the year.

Harrow persisted with the penalty infringements yet it was OA's who strangely suffered at the hand of the referee, two yellow cards for Paul and Seve at different intervals although both of the infringements were accidental the referee was right to produce a card. Seve had kicked out at a loose ball and unfortunately struck one of Harrows players, it was not intentional but the referee knew his laws and refereed the incident as well as he did the whole game.

As the second half wore on players began to stand out, Granger at fly half was tackling like a rugby league front row forward, as well as Peter Duffy and Craig pushing the forwards all the way and leading by example. You felt that the Harrow forwards were beginning to tire and when replacement Ian Dodds came on he added that old head and weight in the maul which eventually led to the winner try with only two minutes to go.

Harrow were naturally devastated, OA's were obviously ecstatic and for the supporters it `had been emotional'.

It was another giant killing scalp for the outstanding team who proved that they have depth in the squad/club, bring Mersey Islanders in round 4.

Scorers = Sevex2

Conversions/Pens = Andy consx2, 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 Harrow 6th November 2004 National Cup 3rd Round Vs Harrow (away) Result = 8-15 This was the big one for Ashmole, the kind of games the club as started to live for and this was by far their fiercest test to date. Harrow went into the game on the back of a heavy defeat to newly promoted Tring, who also beat Ashmole last year although not so convincingly, but the paper results mean nothing on the day it would come down to who had the desire and belief. OA's on the other hand had a confidence boosting win against Letchworth the week before but the side out against Harrow was very different, they were missing 7 or 8 key players, most of them being forwards. They were however pleased to welcome back fly half and newly appointed Captain Neal Granger who would prove to be a huge asset for them. It was an extremely tight first half with neither side making any real progress into the oppositions twenty two, despite the bare bones side that Ashmole had out they were giving as good as they got and you could not really point out a winner at any stage of the first forty minutes. It finished 3-3 at the break and the first half had seen Harrow give away penalty after penalty for diving over the top in the rucks and Ashmole slowly beginning to dominate the scrums, both sides were winning their own lineouts but their was no definitive attacking moves, although you felt that either set of backs was capable of something special. The second half started not dissimilar to the first, but at last the supporters were rewarded with the first try, Harrow's forwards had sucked in the OA's back row at a maul and used the vacant blind side to attack and score in the corner. The conversion was missed and it was not long before Ashmole got themselves back in it with a try from number 8 Seve, playing his first game of the year. Harrow persisted with the penalty infringements yet it was OA's who strangely suffered at the hand of the referee, two yellow cards for Paul and Seve at different intervals although both of the infringements were accidental the referee was right to produce a card. Seve had kicked out at a loose ball and unfortunately struck one of Harrows players, it was not intentional but the referee knew his laws and refereed the incident as well as he did the whole game. As the second half wore on players began to stand out, Granger at fly half was tackling like a rugby league front row forward, as well as Peter Duffy and Craig pushing the forwards all the way and leading by example. You felt that the Harrow forwards were beginning to tire and when replacement Ian Dodds came on he added that old head and weight in the maul which eventually led to the winner try with only two minutes to go. Harrow were naturally devastated, OA's were obviously ecstatic and for the supporters it `had been emotional'. It was another giant killing scalp for the outstanding team who proved that they have depth in the squad/club, bring Mersey Islanders in round 4. Scorers = Sevex2 Conversions/Pens = Andy consx2, pensx1