Match Report

It was evident from the start that it was going to be a tough struggle a the Thames side got into there stride very quickly and had points, in the form of an unconverted try, on the board within 5 minutes of the off.  The old boys struggled to integrate their new players into the game plan with lots of missed passes and a lot of loose ball going begging.  This allowed the Thames team to get further into their stride and put a further 2 tries, both unconverted, on the old boys within the first 20 minutes of the game.

The old boys then started to settle and put up a valiant defense against the onslaught and started to hit some of the tackles that were sadly lacking in the first 20 minutes.  This defense though did not prevent a further unconverted try before the end of the Half.

After a regroup at half time the Old Boys again out determined not to give in and aided by the downhill slope put Thames under pressure. It was during one of these intense pushes by the Old Boys that John?? went off injured and was replaced by a late arrival in Mike Haddock. This put more venom into the Old Boys game and Strengthened the struggling pack (the Knapp brothers being the only real pack members in position) Following a knock on in the tackle the Thames pack was pushed back off of their own ball by the now motivated pack. This excellent performance was not without pitfalls as David Knapp went off with a incapacitating leg injury which put him out of the rest of the game.

The game then continued with unconsteaded scrums which gave the Old Boys more room to move the players of into support. With the additional support and some very good interchange between the Old Boys backs, and the ball going to hand, resulted in a try under the posts for the stand in captain Perry Reeves.

The game continued to be a hard fought, but fair, game with both sides having their share of missed passes and infringements. Then, what can only be described as totally unforgivable, happened. As Bob Knapp ripped the ball off of a Thames player in the maul, and went to ground with a ruck forming, a moronic Thames player took it upon himself to change the tone of the game by deliberately trying to blind Bob by GOUGING both his eyes whilst he was at the bottom of the ruck. Unfortunately the Ref was unsighted and could not penalise anyone, although the Thames team condoned the actions of this moron by not offering him up for sanction. The play continued with Bob Knapp taking 5 mins off the pitch to settle himself. He then valiantly returned to the field and showed the Thames team what the Old Boys are made of. The Old boys never really got back into their stride after this and gave away a lot of loose ball which Thames did not capitalise on fully but still managed to turn into another few tries, in what was by now a hollow victory.

This was a good performance by a scatch 2ndXV which was marred by the events of the second half.