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Match Report - 1stXV v Old Caterhamians (19-19)
The hallowed turf of the Woodies Pitch at Kings College Sports Ground in New Malden witnessed one of the greatest sporting come backs in living memory on Saturday afternoon in what was a heroic effort from 13 men wearing the famed black jersey of the Law Society in the final 15 minutes.
The Law Society started brightly on a grey, blustery day and dominated the opening exchanges before being caught off guard by a good set piece move by Old Caterhamians back line allowing them to score in the corner against the run of play. This continued to be the case for much of the first half with debutant scrum half Carl Bradshaw dictating play, driving the pack forward and feeding the backs with quality ball, whilst Andy Mainwairing was superb under the high ball and Robbie McKay posed a threat on the wing. Decision making at times was poor through out the team but the Law continued to take the lions share of possession and territory.
After having made a bright start Rich Hollis had to leave the pitch with a shoulder injury after a scrum collapse leading to the introduction of Dave Pritchard for his 1s debut. As the pack readjusted to it’s enforced changes Old C’s were able to add another try despite the Law’s continued dominance. Dave P reignited the spark in the Law’s tight 5 following his introduction and the Law Society again took the upper hand. Virtually camped in Old C’s half it was clear that their defence wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer. A line out 5 metres from the Old C’s try line was superbly taken by MASSIVE Burker’s who as ever was the king of the line out, a rolling maul then lead to Hydey touching down for a try which was cruelly disallowed. The ref claimed the ball was help up despite the fact was looking at the wrong ruck when the ball went down over the line. The Law were up in arms but the decision was made and the ref blew for half time not long after this near controversial incident.
Only positives were discussed during the half time break. Old Caterhamians were lucky to be in front due to two scores against the run of play and it was only our decision making under pressure that let us down. There would be no change in game plan, no panic and a clear declaration that all those in a black shirt would beat their opposite number performance in the second half.
The second half however didn’t start well with Old Caterhamian’s scoring within minutes of the restart. Even Mr Watts and Mr Farrell, the most faithful and optimistic supporters in the history of the Law Society were heard to grumble that “they don’t have a chance” as they returned from the Woodies bar pints in hand.
Despite this early blow the Law stuck to their game plan and continued to apply pressure to the Old Caterhamians defensive line again setting up camp in the oppos half. Things then took a turn for the worse when the returning Dom Magee was forced off the field with a calf injury pushing Chris McKeown who had played superbly at 7 out to 13. Having used the one substitute available to them in the first half the law were forced to carry on with only 14 men on the field. Andy Thompson’s Maori spirit however refused to be dampened by this blow and he scored his first try for the law with only 12 minutes left on the clock, Henry Tarr duly converting to bring the score to 19 – 7. The pressure on the Old C’s defence continued to mount as superb running from Liam Bray, Tommy Ellis, James Burke, Robbie Riha and David Pritchard really started to take it’s toll. This had been backed up by another fine performance from Simon Spells at 12 who had been a battering ram outside Henry Tarr who played fantastically well at 10. 13 however proved again to be the unlucky number as Chris McKeown was the next man to suffer the curse on of outside centre and was forced off the pitch leaving us with 13 men on the pitch.
The Law’s however refused to roll over and losing another man only seemed to bring the team closer together and strengthen their resolve. Robbie Riha who always, always gives more than 100% lead the way again smashing his way across the line in true ‘weapon’ style to bring us within touching distance of a remarkable recovery. Chris Adair then came looking for work, after an excellent performance on the wing, to take an inside ball from Henry Tarr to touch down in front of the posts in the final minute of play giving Tarr the simplest of kicks to level in the closing seconds.
