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2nd XV Match Reports

Sat 31 Jan 09: Barking III 7 - Sidcup II 50

With a coach using quotes from Bill Shankly before the game, it was surprising to see the team play so well in the first half. However the team we put out this week was strong with the return of Maz from the first team and Phil Evans from his Mediterranean mid-season break! Also pleasing to see Scotty back to start a game after his prolonged absence through injury.

The first half started with honours even in respect of possession and territory. Fierce exchanges were made at the breakdown which continued throughout the game and provided a number of off the ball incidents. Our forwards enjoyed some ball carrying moments with Chris Dorling and Nick Gilbert gaining good yards but all too often we threw the ball away for that final 'glory' pass instead of holding onto the ball and recycling it! We also saw a number of turnovers which was disappointing and must be rectified.

Scrummage was good and solid but lineouts were prone to misunderstandings which needed to be solved at half time (generally they worked better in the 2nd half). When we did get into the Maidstone 22 we capitalised well on some quick ball for Paul to put Phil through for an excellent try under the posts. We have missed Phil's cutting edge in the centre and his defence throughout the game was, as usual, very solid. It was a pity we didn't use it more in the game. Half time came with us winning 7-0 and it was clear we had to maintain our efforts as this was probably the most physical game we had had all season.
As expected Maidstone came out strongly in the second half and managed to score a couple of good tries. Our response was not good and we gave away penalties at the wrong time and place on the pitch. Our ball retention did not improve and we lost the game rather than Maidstone clearly winning it. Having said that when both sides concentrated on rugby, what was produced was of a good quality.

Both sides got a talking to at half time about their backchat and it was surprising that yellow cards were not given earlier in the game. However it was very frustrating to see two of our players receive red cards in the last minute. They have, of course been banned by the club and will face disciplinary action, which will include the club passing on to the players the fine that Kent RFU imposes!

To all players - Look at your performances on Saturday, not just your physical efforts but also your verbal contributions.
You are not picked for the latter and any repeat will affect your selection in future games. For my part I will ban myself from the touch line on Saturday during the game as an example of what will happen to players OR members of the coaching team if there is a lack of discipline.

A senior player spoke to me today and remarked that our run-in is probably the hardest he has seen for a number of seasons in 2s rugby. Are you up to the challenge? Tony and I certainly are! We are capable of a high position in this league, let’s get there!!

Man of the match - Chris Dorling

AH - 18 Feb 09

Sat 31 Jan 09: Barking III 7 - Sidcup II 50

A hastily arranged friendly organised by the fixture secretary (thanks Tom), turned out to be a great benefit to the 2s.

We wanted to get some phases together and that certainly happened against a committed team of forwards. We scored 4 tries in the first half, Ryan Hudson, converted a difficult chance, Sam Carmen, with a determined run through a ruck, Dan Evans changing the attack to the blind side at a scrum and Tom Crisp, chasing a probable lost cause touching down before the covering defence. Our scrum worked well all game, despite Chris Dorling coming off after 20 mins and Scotty coming on for his first start since the Beckenham game earlier than I wanted and having to move Duffman to BSF!!

The second half was almost a repeat of the first with the scrum and the lineout, with a very challenging wind (no not Lukes!) working well with Jon Cosh throwing at the right targets in the line and Stevie Wade performing well. Good captaincy from Richard Evans and support from Luke as pack leader ensured we didn't slack against forwards who were not going to let anyone through them. Nick Kenny performed very well, scoring two tries in this half and supplied Dan at 10, good quick quality ball. The other two tries of this half were from Richard, after good team work. An injury to Stevie Wade was not expected and he is a doubt for next week.

Lots of positives, with Stuart Hill completing two excellent try saving tackles to keep them nilled. However they managed to score with the last play of the game when Sam Carmen, who performed very well in the back row, dropped his binding at scrum time in front of our posts. It was very pleasing to see Nick Gilbert back to his best after his injury, making some storming carries and tackling very strongly, as usual. Dan Evans did all the simple thigns very well and Luke has brought a boost of confidence to all the players in his own style! Great to see Tom Crisp playing a full game and probably his best performance of the season. Both Nick and Tom were close to the MotM award but I gave it to Nick Kenny for an all round game that helped the whole team.

Champagne moment - Watching Richard Evans storm towards the line with no-one to beat, then fall over! Classic!!

NFI - Get to training all of you - We had five forwards and two backs at training on Thursday. We are not going to improve our team performance if that continues.

Good work, gents- well done.

AH - 5 Feb 09

Sat 24 Jan 09: Sidcup II 0 - Gravesend II 10

Thankfully the 1st team pitch was able to recover from the downpour during Thursday night and Friday morning and a good game was seen by all.

With the team being changed, again, on Thursday night and not all players attending training it was not ideal prep for a difficult game against a Gravesend side currently 2nd in the league. Our visit to them earlier in the season resulted in a 16-3 win for them so we knew we were facing a real challenge.

Our display against Dover last week was not even worth writing a report about so it was vital the players put some pride into their performance. Well they certainly did that, with their display being one of the best this season with many positives to be taken from the game.

We started well and gave nothing to the aggressive Gravesend pack, certainly beating them all day in the lineout. The scrum was, however, somewhat different with Gravesend almost running over our entire pack during the latter stages of the game. Mark Smith, at No8, picked up well all game whilst going backwards.

Our attacks from the forwards were very decisive but not well supported by the other players. Our defence during the first half hour was well organised and Gravesend had had some really good periods of possession along with good territory but had been denied the scores that would have usually come. However with Dave Driscoll coming off with an ankle injury (badly bruised) changes were made at just the time that Gravesend put some impressive phases together to score an unconverted try out wide in the corner. At half time the score was 0-5 and we all said how well the performance had been and what we could do to improve. One problem was the lack of quick ball from the breakdown, which was a problem. After the break changes were made and it did improve.

The second half carried on with Gravesend again camping in our half but not being able to break down a very competitive Sidcup performance. As mentioned before we had to change a number of things, one being putting Steve Amura into the centres to create something for us and putting Ryan at Scrum half also helped but it seemed a continuous problem to get the ball to the backs quickly.

With our defence holding out well, it needed a fine finish by one of the Bishop twins from Gravesend to score again in the corner. Unconverted. 0-10 to them. We were spurred by this and produce a fine period of pressure to walk the Gravesend pack down he pitch with some penalties. We were at their 22 when we decided to kick for goal when we probably should have kicked for the corner. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!. Richard Evans unfortunately came up short with the kick and we never got into another good attacking position again.

The final score of 0-10 was disappointing but the performance by the lads was much improved from the previous week and as coaches we must always look at performance. With Mark Smith getting the MotM award, it is important to say well done to JT, Spenny and Luke for their efforts. In the backs Phil Evans again put in a good performance, along with Lee Woolard, putting in some excellent tackles (not always against the man with the ball). However the biggest improvement for me was Steve Evans being moved to 7 after Dave's injury. His performance in this game must move him closer to the 1st team squad. Always committed when he plays it was Tony who summed it up at the end of the game 'he showed a maturity about his performance, keeping very calm and focused despite some serious provocation from the first whistle to the last'. His work rate was immense!

Thanks to all the players who performed heroically in this losing cause. We travel to Canterbury in better health because of this display.

One important footnote to this game - It was the first time that all 4 members of the Evans family have played together in a senior game. I have had the pleasure of knowing Steve and Dan as members of my team over the past 11 years. Phil and Richard have both assisted in coaching that side, with Phil coming on Tour with us at U17 level, which was an experience for all who witnessed it! Congratulations to you all.

Thanks also to the ref who performed well. Also many thanks to Charles Prewer and Neil Beaton who continue to assist the 2s when we play at home, much appreciated by us, thanks.

I have got to get these reports shorter!! Thanks for persevering.

AH - 27 Jan 09

Sat 3 Jan 09: Sidcup II 32 - Old Dunstonians II 10

With the ground just about playable from the overnight frost and more support than usual due to the 1st XV not having a league fixture, we were looking forward to starting the new year with a win. This was never going to be easy as Old D's always give a very good account of themselves and the game at their place earlier in the season was very tough.

With many of the first team players on the touchline, our plan was to run the ball to stretch the opposition and give everyone some good entertaining rugby to watch. I didn't expect Paul Edwards to be the one to run in the first try! I don't think I was alone either but he saw the gap (how big was that gap?) and finished a good move very well.

We were struggling somewhat in the scrum early doors but managed to have the upper hand later on in the game. All down to the 10 guys I used over the game, well done lads. The lineout was very good with Dale returning at hooker and both Steves jumping well. Our forward play was dynamic with excellent continuity shown by all, with just the last pass being delayed slightly or forced. However with Lee Woolard playing for the 2s for the first time this season and realising he had to up his game, collected a loose kick, ran well back in field and popped a lovely ball to Phil Evans who ran in untouched under the posts. Great try and well deserved by the team. With Paul converting this and his own try plus a penalty we were leading 17-0 at half time.

We felt we had not converted the field position and possession into enough points. If we could just score again early doors 2nd half we would be ok. Well the best laid plans….

We kicked off and scored a good try in the corner from Stuart Hill, a Colt, returning from a long period off with an injury. The whole move was really well constructed with forwards and backs combining throughout. In fact Stuart did very well on his return and it was good to see him back in the team. Whilst everything was going according our game plan no-one told Old Dunstonians who took our scoring this try as a wake up call. They came storming back into the game scoring two unconverted tries in very quick succession through excellent pressure and play. It was certainly worrying us and full credit to them.
They forced us into too many errors and as Tony said at the end of the game we just needed to re-group and play the simple game at that point.

Fortunately we got another 3 points from a Paul Edwards penalty and with both teams getting tired John Ford managed to go over for a try following a smashing tackle from Lee 'Wee Man' Woolard who stopped an attempted Old Ds breakout from their 22 late in the game. I believe it was their no. 8 which was a shame as he had played well all game.

Final score was not reflective of how difficult the game had been but what was most pleasing was that with no training over the Christmas period the team played some excellent stuff, set piece was getting stronger as the game went on and things are looking good with a number of players returning from injury this week (fingers crossed!).

Big thanks must go to Alex Isaacs who didn't get on, all the forwards for the way they stuck to a very tricky task of trying to compete with a bigger pack and getting the upper hand, thanks to the backs who when they click, really look dangerous. Special thanks to Tom Beaumont and Steve Evans who had to play either most or all of the game out of position, appreciate it. Lewis Anderson was borrowed from the 4s as our prop was flagging mid way through the second half and he performed well despite having one eye on the 4s! (He asked me at one penalty what the score was in the 4s game!!).

Man of the match was chosen by Tony Isaacs who picked Tom Spear who worked really hard all game. Well done Tom. I would say that picking the MofM each week is getting more difficult, which is exactly how we want it.

Away game at Dover this week. This is where our season continues gents. Well done to all.

Champagne moment - Joint one this week, Lee's tackle to create the last try and the move that led to Stuart Hill try.

Coaches note for improvement - Need to reduce silly penalties. The game is hard enough without certain players doing daft things! We will speak to the culprits but you know who you are!

See you at Training Tuesday and Thursday.

AH - 9 Jan 09

Sat 29 Nov 08: Tunbridge Wells II - Sidcup II 13

With no changes to our team selected on the Tuesday, which must be a first, we travelled down to TW by-passing the town centre and Christmas shoppers via the lanes of deepest Kent suggested by Dave Driscoll. We were one replacement short with Dan McNally turning up 10 mins late and later telling me he couldn't believe we had all left!!!

On a boggy pitch, which really sapped the energy of both sets of players, we again started brightly but it was clear the TW team we were playing against were not a 2nd from bottom side. They competed well all game, especially in the tight where they were very strong.

In fact we sometimes played the game that they wanted us to play rather than sticking to our own game plan. We said for the guys to keep it open and fluid with very little kicking, unless it was over the top of the backs into some space to utilise the large dead-ball areas. However it was from a poor kick of ours that we scored our first try. As it was kicked it was touched in flight by one of their players, putting all players on-side. With a favourable bounce the ball found itself being fed to Dave Harris who finished well. Although Paul didn't kick the conversion he had already been successful with a penalty so that made us 8-0 up.
We continued the first half playing with the wind and at times looked as though the next move would give us a score, when we kept the ball moving. Tom Tobin found himself with a three on one situation and decided to follow Ryan's instruction to 'chip it'. Unfortunately he chipped it straight to their full back! At this point I threatened him with walking home if he did that again. Excellent coaching technique as he did not repeat the error again all game!!

I must say Tom performed heroically all game, throwing his weight around and being his usual combative self.
We finished the half still only 8-0 up, partly because of TW good display and partly us not following the original game plan. We spoke about this at half time and to the credit of the guys they fully took it on board.

I was somewhat concerned that we had only scored the 8 points as the wind was picking up and if we continued to attempt to run through TW we were going to come off second best. I need not have worried. All this season when the 2nd team want to play we have produced some excellent team tries and today was no exception. With Duffman taking the ball in over on the right 15m channel and the forwards clearing out well for Ryan to get the ball out quickly, the ball went through a number of pairs of hands to Steve Evans who finished off the move in the corner. Praise must go to all involved but especially Pip and Tom Beaumont who timed their passes really well. I must say Steve was outstanding all game and this will be passed to Phil Ubee when I speak to him.

I must highlight the TW try which was taken very well at the back by their player, who then ran over Paul! The guys know where we went wrong there but it lead to a somewhat difficult last period when a converted try for them would have made them winners. Again our defence, which has won us many games this season, was very solid and we held out for very hard fought win at 7-13.

Well done to Dave Driscoll Jnr who was VC today. His attitude has been excellent all season. Thanks must go to Spenny who answered a call from me to assist us and performed in his usual dependable way. I even got him throwing in at the end and he did this very well.

At this half way stage in the season we are in the top half of the table, despite the massive changes in our team week in week out, due to the injuries elsewhere in the club. That is totally down too the players attitudes on Saturdays when they turn up and perform fantastically well. We have, on most occasions, got a great mix of experience and youth, which has shown itself in the great rugby we have played. Thank you to all 2nd team players this season.

To the players, remember Tony's comments at the end of the game. He was totally spot on and we can now move forward with confidence for the second half of the season. We are learning about how not to give away silly penalties, which was highlighted in today's game. Well done!

Champagne moment - Watching Tom Crisp launch himself into tackles. That boy is a unit and must take his rugby seriously and turn up for training!

Coaches NFI - Please notify Paul Edwards or myself if you are available for the Old Dunstonians game at home on the 3rd Jan 09 BY Monday 29th DEC 08.

Lastly to all players, coaches and Dave Birch, our Video Technician, I wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas and New Year and thank you for your efforts so far this season. Please come back fully recharged to start 2009 the same way we finished 2008.

AH - 23 Dec 08

Sat 29 Nov 08: Sidcup II 10 - Tonbridge Juddians II 3

With the week being one where players were withdrawing every day, the frustration continued on Saturday morning when Phil Evans was called up to the 1s. Great for him but a disaster for us (or so we thought). We managed to keep Steve Hancox for about an hour before he also went the way of Pip. So our only option was to put Steve Evans into the outside centre position. With Dave Price doing the commendable thing to play for us, so the 3s could get a game we started this fixture with the bare 15. Well what a start, Steve Evans scoring and Paul converting the try within the first 10 minutes!

With Dave Price taking the responsibility at every restart we gained lots of ball throughout the first half, through set piece and at the break down to ensure we had enough ball to throw around wherever possible, off loading more today than we have done all season. Dan Evans' distribution when he entered the line was excellent and Paul, at 10, took plenty of opportunities to exploit the gaps that were opening up in front of him. Tom Castleton scored two first half tries, picking the ball up with still a fair bit of work to do but finishing them really well. Steve Evans scored his second try with a fantastic bit of back play resulting in us being 24-0 up with 10 minutes still to go. With some first class support play Tom Tobin finished off the best team try of the day to leave it 29-0 at half time.

The second half should have been more of the same but we managed only three tries as Thanet had a number of opportunities with good field position but the lads defended really well to deny them every time. Ryan Hudson scored an excellent try, finishing off a move we have been using in training to great success but this is the first time Ryan has been on the end of this move in a 'live' game. Following a good kick from Daniel and some excellent pressure from Chris Neal and Steve Evans, our new outside centre managed to score his hat trick try (didn't see any jug bought though?). I now bought on three replacements who had travelled to Dulwich to find their game had to be cancelled and returned asking if we needed any help. I certainly didn't want to let them go without any rugby, so I removed Paul, who had a dead leg, Dave Price and Tom Tobin, thorough fatigue and a bad mouth injury respectively, putting on Andy, Matteo and JT who all did well.

With Sam Carmen finishing off another good sweeping move the game ended 44 -0 to us but we had some very bad news with about 15 mins to go, RFJ on the floor in obvious discomfort clutching his knee. Paul the Physio gave him some treatment on the field and instructed him to go to the hospital asap. I will update you all via the forum as to Rob's diagnosis.

A fantastic win, playing some very attractive rugby, with a scratch team who had not played or practiced together, was a great outcome to today. I must say thank you to all 18 players I used in this game, especially Dave Price. Thank you gents. A big thanks to the ref as well. Had he not stepped in we would not have had a game!

Man of the match was Tom Castleton. Well done Tom!

Champagne moment - Watching rugby being played simply but effectively at pace and with commitment. Some of our continuity and support play was first class. Whilst it was the back row and backs who stand out when this happens, I must say congrats to the front five who performed heroically all game.

Coaches NFI - I can say nothing to the guys who turned up and played apart from thanks. We all need to encourage everyone to get training and make themselves available in this testing time for the club.

AH - 8 Dec 08

Sat 29 Nov 08: Sidcup II 10 - Tonbridge Juddians II 3

Fortunately the puddles that appeared on the main pitch on Friday evening had gone in the morning which meant we didn't have to play on the Vets pitch and we could use our mobile pack on the larger playing surface.

On paper we had a very good team, but with the late withdraw of Wes from the 1s meant that Steve Amura went to Beckenham and left us with no back replacement. In the end we didn't need one but it was slightly amusing to see Tom Tobin running through the plays at inside centre. Although it would be nice to see Tom Beaumont arrive before kick off to run through them himself - someone needs to buy that guy a watch!!

Anyway we warmed up like a bunch of guys who looked like they had swapped their hands for feet and words were exchanged. It was very nice to see John Cosh, as pack leader today, stick up for his team and show some attitude. It was obviously felt by all the players as we started really well, camped in TJs half for the first 25 minutes. But with only a Paul Edwards penalty to show for it we did not capitalise on our territorial advantage and our usual problem re appeared at the last 10 minutes which meant we started to walk backwards and allow TJs to get back into the game.

Our scrummage started well but the ball was taking too long to get to the fly half and the backs didn't really get going all game. Kicking from hand is usually one of Paul's best attributes but he was having an off day in executing exactly what he was trying to achieve. I must compliment both Tom Beaumont and Phil Evans on their defence as they seem to have sorted out an problem we had at the start of the season in that area.

With lineouts working well against a giant of a front jumper for TJs, I was most impressed with our work at the breakdown. We competed there all game and was one of the main reasons we won. With all forwards committing themselves when they were the first ones to a ruck it was giving us the ball we needed to gain the advantage. At half time however the score was still at 3-0.

The chat at half time was all about what we had to do to capitalise on our great first half and all credit to the lads as they came out of the blocks flying again and Dale Riches touched down after some excellent forward aggression and ball carrying. He really is a great find this season and unlike Wes, has not bleated on about the slim South African win a couple of Saturdays ago!! Paul converted well to make it 10 - 0. Shortly after this TJs scored their penalty after getting back into the game well, their full back returning our wayward kicks well and linking with his support. 10-3 with a significant amount of time left but not much light.

An incident occurred which resulted in RFJ and one of their players going into the bin for 10 mins. My view was that RFJ was protecting his captain as Paul was lying down having a fag and didn't want anyone standing on him whilst he did this!

I always try to ensure our replacements get some decent game time and Tom Crisp came on for Stevie Wade with about 25 minutes to go. Stevie really up'ed his game today after Tony got on his case and pointed out how well he had trained during the week. Both Stevie and Steve Evans worked really well in a light second row, which meant we basically had five back row forwards and helped at the break down. The other two replacements came on shortly afterwards and I was sufficiently comfortable to take off the two most senior forwards, RFJ and John, for Andy Hind and Tom Tobin in the front row. This meant we played the last 20 with three 18 year olds as a front row. They didn't let the side down at all. However TJs only needed a converted try to draw level and they knew it as they consistently gained good field position, at one stage on our five metre line, but with some excellent defence which has shown itself throughout this season we managed to keep them at bay.

Another sin binning near the end meant that Tom & TJs winger went for a calm down but it was not a dirty game and the ref was consistent throughout with his decisions, which players are always asking for. We continued to defence well and got our win that over the whole game, I felt we deserved. Well done to all 18 players. One footnote, RFJ complained that I had taken him off at just the point where he was about to repeat his drop goal feat of last week. I apologise for denying that sight to all who was watching on Saturday!!?

Champagne moment - A delight to watch a team who defend so committed as one. This is what is winning us our games at the moment. Well done to all. Man of the match - Dave's turn this week, who rightly singled out Nick and Dale for praise but he gave it to Steve Duffus who thoroughly deserved it. Well done Duffman.

Coaches NFI - We must try to get ourselves to training - as I said at the end of the game if you can't make Tuesdays then move heaven and earth to get there on a Thursday please. Our games against Thanet Wanderers and Tunbridge Wells before Christmas are vital for our season.

Well done to all - fantastic performance!

AH - 1 Dec 08

Sat 15 Nov 08: Beckenham II 38 - Sidcup II 16

With a number of missing first choice players either not available or injured it was always going to be a tough afternoon visiting the league winners from last season but again it could have been closer than the final outcome.

Our game plan didn't really get going in the first twenty and Beckenham scored three well worked tries before we had even woke up. Defensive organisation was lacking and with their slick back line they looked like scoring every time they had the ball. However with us now competing we managed to get penalties in kickable positions and Paul Edwards put them away well. Scrums were very competitive with RFJ causing his usual mayhem and Scotty secure on the loose whilst lineouts were more of a problem to us. At half time we were only 9-17 down and the message was that if we started the second half and executed our game plan then we would get some success. Scotty had to leave the field just before half time with a damaged ankle (understand that its torn ligaments) and Ellis Oliver, a 4th team regular came on to play for far longer than he or we expected. Credit to Ellis who scrummaged very well and put himself about in the loose admirably.
The second half didn't start how we wanted with Beckenham scoring a smart try under the posts by their centre. It was great to see the reaction of the lads after this as they seemed to open up a bit more, with a good run from Stevie Wade and some excellent phase play after a couple of quick penalties. It was great to see Phil Evans score an excellent try, running from his own half to put the deficit back to 8 points at 16- 24. He has had an issue with his foot for a number of weeks now and to see him running flat out was very pleasing. Unfortunately that was the end of our scoring for the day but not Beckenhams. They finished off their afternoon with some concerted attacks on our line and despite our brave defence ran in two more well worked tries.
Many thanks to the likes of Charlie Brookes, Billy Steele, Ellis, Steve Hancox, RFJ who answered the call to assist the team, sometimes at the last minute. Well done gents.

Positives to take from the game were that despite a team thrown together on the Saturday afternoon, we competed really well all game, learnt very quickly where we had gone wrong in the first half and fixed it for the second half. Discipline was much better despite it being a very hard game. John Cosh came back from injury and played well. Tom Tobin played his first game of the season at 6 and showed he is even fitter than he was last season. Robbo had a competent game at 9 under a lot of pressure.

I thought the back row played very well all game but wanted to highlight two players who, in my opinion, were our men of the match. Maz was carrying a slight injury and had the 'black death' as had a number of players (Phil Evans had his own contaminated drinks bottle which I seemed to give to everyone!!) but he put himself about and was a physical presence all game. I was very impressed with RFJ who contributed a lot at scrum time as usual but also kept encouraging the players in his own way throughout the game and showed a never say die attitude.

Champagne moment - Seeing Dave Driscoll Snr on the touchline only just over 24 hours after having a difficult operation. He was in considerable pain but wanted to be there for the team. In fact he rang me on the afternoon of his operation to ask about team changes and talk about the game! Thanks for your input as usual on Saturday and I'm sure all the guys wish you all the best for the coming months, Dave.

Coaches NFI - Tony Isaacs informed me that discipline starts on the touchline. He is right. He also informed me that I need to calm down. He is right again. I must apologise if I get over excited (that’s what I call it) and I must ensure that this is curbed going forward. But I just get so frustrated! No excuse I know. The 2s are the sole focus of Dave, Tony and myself and we are desperate to ensure success.

No game this Saturday but can all players get to training this week and next as we must push forward between now and Christmas and bag as many points as we can. Can all players text me or Paul Edwards by this Saturday 22nd with your availability for the 29th? Many thanks.

AH - 17 Nov 08

Sat 8 Nov 08: Sidcup II 29 - Sevenoaks II 19

A difficult game on paper looking at previous results, turned out to be just that on Saturday in windy conditions but thankfully no rain which blighted other games played.

With our original forward replacements being drafted in the team on Thursday and Friday it was reassuring to see Tom Crisp and Mark Smith prowling up and down the touchline in the first half! We played against the wind and quickly showed our attacking intent, creating good field position with both the scrum and line out functioning well. Dan Holmes and Simon Burwood, our jumpers, were thrown up sharply and I think the front pod had to hold onto Dan's ankles to ensure he didn't fly away! It was great to see Spenny back in the team following the birth of his second child, Samuel, and he celebrated with a try early doors (albeit with assistance of the other 7 forwards). A great conversion was sailing towards the posts when the referee waved it as gone wide. Both touch judges then raised their flags andhe hastily changed his signal!. Shades of things to come..

A couple of penalties for Sevenoaks made the score at half time 7-11 and I was somewhat concerned that our ill discipline was going to cause another one of those games that the 2s have in that we lose by 7 points or less and everyone says afterwards that we should have won that one! I reminded everyone that we don't get the points for thinking we should have won a game!
We had let Sevenoaks back onto the score board and that was not acceptable. Senior players, who do know better, were letting the side down and that was not on. It was a great first half with all 15 players working together at times but it had to be a combined effort for the entire second half to beat a very good Sevenoaks side, with a competitive pack and good fly half.
To their credit all the players took this on board and the second half started with an excellent kick by Jim Hardy to give us a lineout on their 5 metre line. A good lineout followed by a rolling maul saw Dave Drsicoll go over for a try. The conversion was missed and it was starting to hot up as a contest and I wondered whether that miss would be crucial. Sevenoaks came back with a good converted try to make it 12-18. It was definitely a good game for the neutral!

Following a kick through Ryan Hudson, playing his third consecutive game in the 2s, showed excellent speed to fall on the ball over the try line to make it 17-18 and Sam Eydmann who kicked very well all afternoon got the conversion, 19-18. This was with still 20 or so minutes to go and the next score really would decide the game. Fortunately we got it after some excellent work by the forwards in the right hand corner of their 22, the ball was passed early by Jim who looped round to collect the ball again from Dan Evans, who performed well at full back, to dive over for the score. The conversion was about 2 metres in from the far left touchline but Sam kicked it over beautifully to make it 29-18. I was pleased that we got the try as previously we had not been successful in three penalty attempts and the heart does tend to beat faster after every miss!! Mine does anyway!. At this point Sevenoaks did not read my script and certainly did not lay down. In fact they enjoyed their most amount of consistent ball and decided to camp in our 22. The last 7/8 minutes were defend, defend and defend by us as Sevenoaks moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, giving it to big forwards and then passing it wide. We, being the plonkers that we are, didn't make it easy for ourselves and after another batch of penalties Spenny was sin binned for hands in/not rolling away (delete as appropriate). Fortunately Dale Riches came back on at hooker and the guys kept out Sevenoaks for the final few minutes.
It was a fantastic win and was the best we had played as a team for the season. We had to as Sevenoaks were very useful and their current run of losses will surely change if they keep playing like that.

I must congratulate all players for their performances on Saturday, especially their defence in the closing stages. I did make Dale Riches the man of the match as his efforts on the pitch were matched by his constant encouragement whilst off it! Just the attitude we need from players. Well done!

Coaches NFI - You know what I am going to say needs improving so I won't repeat it! I think I made myself clear at half time. Senior players must be showing a good example to the younger guys. I will pull people off if they persist in destroying the team performance by their ill discipline.

Champagne moment - It has to be the team defence at the end of the game, one tackle stands out for me when Sevenoaks took a quick tap and passed it out to their right wing who met Dickie Day full on! His dad told he hadn't eaten for two days - well he ate his opposite number then!!

Can everyone have a look at the league table now - well done to you all and see you at training this week and at Beckenham next week.

AH - 12 Nov 08

Sat 1 Nov 08: Aylesford II 0 - Sidcup II 51

With the worst weather of the season so far Sidcup produced their most consistent performance.

The start was delayed by 15 mins due to a number of Aylesford players being caught in traffic. However Sidcup did not use this to their advantage in the opening exchanges. In fact Aylesford had the first opportunity to score when they were awarded a penalty. The attempt was not successful but as we saw later the conditions underfoot did not make kicking conversions easy. Once Sidcup score their first try they relaxed and started to put together some excellent periods of play, despite the conditions. The coaches were not able to record the scorers due to the weather, it was getting very difficult to identify players anyway! All we can say is that the lineout worked very well with Maz throwing in accurately all game. The scrum also was effective, with Matt Boyle dominant at 8. After an initial dodgy period the backs realised that there were gaps to exploit and did this well all game. After Paul Edwards went off with a tweak in his hamstring (Pete stated it was probably a fatty deposit!) Phil moved into inside centre and played well, supporting his brother at 10. Wes, playing his first game back from injury, seemed to enjoy getting on the pitch, but not the very un-South African weather! Dickie Day used his experience at 9 to pass the ball with his foot on one occasion to Dan, which summed up the atrocious conditions.

The game was drifting slightly in the closing stages and after a fantastic try which went through a dozen pairs of hands the referee asked their skipper if they wanted to stop, as there was only a few minutes left. To his and his teams credit they didn't and continued to play defiantly as they had done all game. In fact our defence was tested on quite a few occasions and from a coaches point of view the fact they were scoreless is a big plus.

An outstanding result for the lads, the performance was something we had been waiting for over the past three weeks. Special mention must go to Chris Dorling and Dan Holmes who played their first games for the 2s. However I must commend all the forwards who really performed at ruck time to ensure Dickie, and later Sam Eydmann, to have clean, quick ball to release the backs. Dave Driscoll played effectively as a link between the forwards and the backs and collected a try (or two, it was difficult to see!)

Champagne Moment - Two moments from this game stand out, Alex Isaacs tackling was awesome throughout the game and Maz charging down a kick and picking up the ball to score from at least 50 metres out (ok probably more like 20 but it sounds better doesn’t it Maz?). Watch out Iain.

Coaches NFI - We need to understand that we can't win a game solely by effort and we MUST use our heads. We have shown excellent effort over the season so far and must follow the game plan agreed at training. We did that today and look what happened. A massive thank you to Tony and Dave for their continued passionate commitment to the cause! It is very much appreciated by me and all the lads.

AH - 3 Nov 08

Sat 18 Oct 08: Sidcup II 31 - Old Elthamians II 42

With a score line like a Super 14 game and a definite tale of two halves this was a very strange game.

With two young debutants at half back, Sidcup started with gaining some good field positions but Old Es were extremely good at capitalising on any mistakes we made, scoring three of their first four tries from deep in their half. Their backs were sharp and clinical during the first half and we didn't seem to have any answer to it. However Sidcup kept pressurising and at half time although we had not troubled the scorers we felt we had the potential to do so.

The second half started with more good field position from Sidcup and Dan Evans going over for a try under the posts on his debut. Tee Mudoti also scored, getting onto a kick through and showing excellent pace to beat three defenders. These two tries gave a much needed boost to our confidence and more importantly, silenced the Old Es 1st team who had come to support their 2nd team. Another period of excellent team play resulted in another Dan Evans try and meant the score was 39-19 and you could see the belief surging through the players.

A pushover try finished by John Ford (although Simon Burwood protested that John had stolen the ball from him!) was good reward for another good display by the pack. With the conversion being kicked by Richard Evans the score was now 42-26 and the thoughts were going through the coaches of what could have been if only we had not conceded so many in the first half. With all the players feeling the fast pace of a very entertaining game (for the neutral), Dave Driscoll burst through from an offload from Roy Benyon (who had an excellent first game for the 2s) and ran 25 metres to score under the posts (please don't slow down again before the line Dave!). The final whistle went immediately after the conversion by Richard Evans and once the referee counted his score card a couple of times the final result was confirmed at 42-31 to Old Es. Whilst Old Es deserved to win on the day we must consider the positives.

The plus points we can take out of the game are that we had scored 5 tries against the current best team in the league and had shown great character in coming back from such a long way behind. Down side was that we had given the opposition too much respect at the start. Still it was pleasing to see that debutants Roy Benyon, Dan Evans & Tee Mudoti all managed to get their names on the scoreboard. To achieve this it was vital that we won our own ball, something we didn’t do against Maidstone. Well done to the pack for their work in the lineout and scrums which was great. Dale Riches gave an excellent all round performance at hooker with his throwing in improving ten fold. Steve Duffus managed to cause his opposite number to blow a gasket late in the game, mostly down to Steve giving him a rough ride at scrum time. A lot of credit also needs to go to the more experienced players who, whilst giving their all physically, continued to encourage and support the younger guys. Thanks gents.

Champagne moment - I'm going to choose Thursday night's training session as this week's champagne moment when all bar one of the 18 man squad were at training which, to me, shows the improved commitment from the players this season - well done to you all. PLEASE continue this as we are seeing the benefits already, as the second half performance showed.
Coaches NFI - Guys just one comment, take the confidence from your second half performance. It was the best performance of the season so far. We just need to do it for a full game next week, at home to Westcombe Park.

AH - 19 Oct 08

Sat 11 Oct 08: Maidstone II 25 - Sidcup II 15

A game that we had opportunities to win but didn't.

Not the first time we have come to this conclusion this season and whilst a visit to Maidstone is never easy, we did have the chances to get maximum points from this fixture. Why didn't we? Well one reason was that Maidstone were a very good side, playing well as a team to kick start their season after some disappointing results. Another reason was our inability to win enough ball in the first half and then not use it wisely when we did get it. Our lineout and scrum suffered from poor delivery and a light second row.

The first period ended at 5-0 to Maidstone, with them scoring 10 mins from the break in the left corner, having played down the slope. We were starved of ball and had to defend most of the half. This was done extremely well as Maidstone showed some excellent continuity after their fly half ran the game well, albeit with plenty of possession. In fact I overheard a comment from one of their players at the break that implied that they expected a bigger lead.

Changing Simon Burwood for Steve Wade in the row and Maz throwing in for Dale, who made himself busy around the pitch extremely well, helped our set piece and we came back immediately with a Paul Edwards penalty, followed by a first phase try from Dave Harris after some slick handling and lines run by Steve Amura. Conversion was good by Paul resulting in us leading 5-10.

However Maidstone replied with a pen of their own and quickly followed with a good converted try to make it 15-10. Our aim was to kick the ball into the bottom left corner and get Ryan and Steve to chase, pin them into the corner and challenge with our lineout which was performing much better. Unfortunately this did not happen and we kicked into the middle of the pitch and allowed Maidstone to counter attack, which they did well. Our defence, whilst always eager, was falling off too many tackles. This was maybe tiredness from the amount of defensive work that was done first half. We needed a score and quickly! This was achieved by almost the same move from last time, first phase ball with Dave again coming into the line, this time offloading to Nick McPherson on the wing to finish well. Conversion missed so its all to play for at 15-15 with approx 12 mins to go.

A dubious penalty allowed Maidstone to go ahead 18-15 and a well worked try, with some American football blocking on Sam allowed the Maidstone player to score under the posts and this was then converted to make it 25-15. Whilst we again went into their 22 and pressurised their line no further scores were made. Final Score 25-15 to Maidstone. They were a good side and a comment made to me that 'our [Maidstone's] 2nd team back row are better than our 1st's' made us feel a little bit happier. It is difficult to highlight everyone who played but I was very pleased with Steve Duffus and Sam Carmen in the front row. Also pleasing was Maz and Dave D in the back row who made themselves busy all afternoon. Steve Evans cover tackling and work rate was very pleasing to see.

Guys, as I said at the end of the game we need to make some difficult decisions. These will be made and we, as a coaching team, have to have your help in turning our recent results around. See you at training on Tuesday & Thursday. On Saturday we have Old E's the current leaders at home. We also have a problem with the Colts having their first round game in the National Colts competition which will impact on the availability of certain players. I need anyone who has not made themselves available to notify me ASAP.

AH - 13 Oct 08

Sat 4 Oct 08: Sidcup II 69 - Canterbury III 7

With all the difficulties of selection on Tuesday, it was pleasing to see such a strong 2s squad turn out for this important fixture. Important for us to return to winning ways and this was certainly done in style against a spirited Canterbury team.

From the start we were on the front foot in every aspect of the game, dominant in the scrum and lineout as well as showing excellent continuity skills with Pete Grayson, starting his first game since his injury, acting as a target for Maz and Nick to follow throughout the first half. In fact it was Grayson with a brace and Nick with one who started the try fest and with Matt Boyle and Dave Harris also going over for tries the first half ended with us 33-7 ahead. Two incidents gave us cause for concern just at the end of the half, one being that Canterbury scored and the other that Matt had to come off after getting an elbow in the face after some sterling defensive work. He did not return and was eventually sent to hospital but the news is better than first thought.

Substitutions were made at half time, Tommy Crisp and Steve Evans came on and ensured that the pace of the forwards was kept to the same standard. Discussions at half time concentrated on ensuring we kept the fantastic 'team' play that had been evident during the first half and ensuring that we did not let Canterbury back into the game. The coaches needn't have worried as we scored another 6 tries in the second half, scorers being Sal, Spenny, Ryan Hudson (a colt who was forced to play 9 due to injuries and performed well behind a very dominant pack), Nick G & Nick P, doing a sterling job on the wing. The other sub was Tom Castleton coming on at fly half for the skipper, Paul, for the final 25 mins. He capped a very competent performance with a try under the posts after a great move involving forwards and backs which was the icing on the cake of today's performance. (The Canterbury guys mentioned that 'Andy Goode' scored when Tom went over, must be something to do with his excellent skills and not his figure??).

Good points for today was seeing Pete Grayson back on the rugby field, Maz and Nick Gilbert having their best games of the season so far. Also pleasing was the back line taking the game to their opposite numbers and showing determination that has been lacking lately. Oh and of course, some fantastic runs from Dave Harris, one of which resulted in Pete's second try. Dave, it is becoming a great habit reporting on your consistently good performances, well done.

Champagne Moment: During the first ten minutes of the game, a wonderful piece of continuity with back row of Pete, Nick and Maz linking with Matt Boyle and the backs in a fantastic move which Physio Pete stated was the 'best piece of rugby the 2s have produced in his three years with the team. Says it all!
Coaches NFI: Gents, take the confidence gained from this into the next game, a tricky away fixture against Maidstone. Remember to win this league we must perform week in and week out.

Bit of news to end, I have asked Dave Birch to act as Team Manager. He will start his duties next week which will entail filming the game for coaching purposes. See you all at training on Tuesday & Thursday. FINALLY PLEASE ALL BE REMINDED OF DAVE DRISCOLL'S WORDS AT THE END OF THE GAME, YOUR SUBS ARE DUE AND MUST BE PAID ASAP AS WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SELECT YOU VERY SHORTLY UNLESS YOU HAVE STARTED TO PAY. WE DO NOT WANT OUR SEASON TO SUFFER OVER A SIMPLE ADMIN DUTY AS THIS. MEMBERSHIP FORMS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE BAR OR CONTACT IAN ANDERSON, CHAIRMAN.

AH - 5 Oct 08

Sat 20 Sep 08: Sidcup II 23 - Dover II 30

With the weather seeming more like July rather than mid-September, the 2s hosted Dover for our first home game of the season. With the Sidcup side decked out with their new playing shirts (many thanks to all the sponsors) and being a mix of experience and youth, hopes were high that we would start our home campaign with a win.

After the early exchanges we found ourselves 3pts down from a successful Dover penalty but quickly made amends by a driving maul from a Matt Boyle inspired lineout that was grounded by Dave Driscoll for a 5-3 lead. Unfortunately for us this was the last action from Dave as an injury flared up and he was replaced by Tommy Crisp. Richard Evans then dropped a impressive goal after the forwards creating the platform. The rest of the half was dominated by Dovers tactics of keeping it tight and ours of trying to move it away from their large forwards. It was great to see Lewis Anderson and Tommy Crisp making crunching tackles to excited cheers from the spectators. They managed to convert their field position into points through a penalty and a converted try after hesitant play from us. Half time 8-13 to Dover.

A tactical substitution was made to replace debutant Lewis Botsio at Hooker with Andy Hind for the start of the second half. Discussions at half time was focused on ensuring support was given to the ball carrier but we all felt it was a game we could definitely win. The second half started with Dover claiming the first score, which was not ideal for us! We were now staring at a score line of 8-20 and had made the task even harder for ourselves. But it is at times like this that you see character come to the fore and it was excellent team play that saw Dan Evans go over in the corner and Richard Evans convert to bring us back to 15-20. Exchanging penalties to make it 18-23 meant the game was at a crucial stage with whoever scored next taking the upper hand.

Dover made better use of their possession and field position to score with a well constructed converted try. At 18-30 there was still 12 minutes to play and the guys really worked hard to bring themselves back into the game, resulting in Steve Wade scoring in the corner at the final whistle. Final score 23-30. A deserved victory for Dover on a day when everyone felt the heat!

Positive points for Sidcup to take from the game was the effort put in by all players and adapting to last minutes changes in line up, which is the usual problem for 2nd teams and will continue throughout the season. Most importantly, it is imperative that we ensure, having got the field position that we come away from the opposition line with points as today we failed, at crucial times, to do this. We have the opportunity to make amends at Gravesend this coming Saturday.

Champagne moments - Seeing Dave Harris make some incredible runs, weaving through gaps that were not there! Well played Dave.
Coaches note for improvement - Everyone must take responsibility for their actions, both on and off the pitch. We must ensure that we are all working our hardest to achieve our ultimate goal for the season.

As mentioned in the changing room, I will not be around next Saturday but wish all the guys the very best and am very confident looking at everyone after yesterday's defeat that we can improve on this performance.

AH - 22 Sep 08

Sat 13 Sep 08: Old Dunstonian II 5 - Sidcup II 27

At long last after what seemed like a very long pre-season and a couple of friendlies the real business of the Invicta League arrived for the 2s with our first fixture, a very tricky visit to Old Dunstonians. On arrival we were pleased to see we were playing on the first team pitch as previously we had used the smaller pitch which was not what we wanted.

The opening exchanges were nervous from both sides, with wrong options being made but Sidcup were working very hard and definitely fronting up at the breakdown which led to much quicker ball which we were starting to use well. From one of these situations, during which a number of phases were created, Simon Burwood went over for the first try, which was not converted. This started a very good period for us, which gave us a lot of possession and saw some excellent team plays with forwards and backs linking very well, moving the ball with speed and purpose. We were giving Jonny Harris on the wing a lot of ball and he had made some very good runs when he received the ball on the half way line with not much space. He then produced an amazing run where he was actually stopped on a number of occasions but kept his balance to continue running and score a fantastic try, with a couple of defenders on his back for company. Now I know why he is called 'Weeble'!. Paul Edwards converted to make it 12-0.

We continued to play at an excellent tempo with every player buying into how we wanted them to play. From a quick taken penalty in mid-field by Spenny, the ball was given to Colin Cooper on the charge with at least 35 mts out and he drove his way over with a mixture of pace and aggression to make it 19-0 at halftime.

The second half started with Old Ds really pushing hard but apart from their new outside centre showing a bit of pace, which was dealt with by Phil Evans every time, there was not too much difference in their game plan. We went a player down for 10 mins due to Matt Boyle receiving a yellow card for pulling down their one and only line out jumper. There followed an excellent period of defence from Sidcup when we were camped on our own try line for what seemed like a life time but they couldn’t drive through us. Changing their plan of attack was successful for them and a well directed cross kick allowed their winger to collect the ball and score to make it 17-5.

After coming back to full strength Paul kicked a penalty to make it 20-5 and we again started to play some good rugby. Losing John Cosh with an injury was not good news as he had played very well following on form last week, but replacements Steve Duffus and Matt Whiting showed they were up to the task. We kept pressurising which resulted in some quick ball which was moved smartly by Coshie to John Ford to drive over out wide. This left about 5 mins left and was very encouraging to the coaches to see the guys keeping their work rate up to the very last part of the game. Final score 27-5 away to such a strong team was an excellent start to our season, with us gaining 4pts for this away win.

Really pleasing to see was how the young back row of Dave Driscoll, John Ford & Nick Gilbert looked very sharp, with Dave especially working very well in support of both forwards & backs. Also our scrum held up very strongly with our front five really working hard. Our backs moved the ball into space well and supplied Jonny Harris with good ball. A fantastic effort from the players, which needs to be improved on for next weeks challenge; our first home game against what will be difficult opponents, Dover. PLEASE BE AT TRAINING ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY THIS WEEK.

Champagne moment - Watching Sidcup defend on their own try line with only 14 players and not allowing anyone through. Well done lads!
Coaches NFI (note for improvement) - Ensuring the coaching staff, namely me, staying off the pitch. In my defence I was told by the ref that he didn’t mind us coming on with water, which is what I was doing! Still point taken and it won't happen again. Honest!

One down 25 games to go!

AH -14 Sep 08

Sat 6 Sep 08: Sidcup II 61 - Blackheath III 0

A pre season friendly usually means ensuring the players are given plenty of water breaks, watching many dropped passes, not seeing a lot of continuity between players, patching up bruises & grass burns from the dry, hard grounds. Not today. With the rain driving across the pitch at a 45 degree angle during warm up it was not going to be a usual pre season game.

I must start with a big thank you to the Blackheath 3s, a number of who played a part in the opening memorial game because of drop outs from the original team, for giving us a good test before our league programme starts next week. From the first whistle Sidcup pressurised Blackheath, charging down a clearance kick. The line out and scrum started well (this continued throughout the game) which enabled the ball to be passed through the backs smartly for Dave Harris to score out wide on the right within the first 5 minutes. Try not converted.

Exactly the same domination of set piece & solid hands on a wet & windy day enabled Dan Evans, from full back, to run in on the left. Try converted by Paul Edwards to make it 12-0. With Nick Gilbert continually giving the opponents problems with his breaks from the base of the scrum it was no surprise that three further tries were scored in the first half from his fellow forwards, John Ford, Steve Wade & Steve Duffus. With one conversion from Paul it resulted in the half time score being 29-0. A well deserved scoreline but both players & coaches felt there this was definitely a job only half done as there was room for improvement in reducing the unnecessary penalty count for offsides & hands in rucks. Also there was a steely determination to ensure we 'niled' them as there had to be some good defence shown by Sidcup at times during the first half, when Blackheath players threatened, albeit individually rather than as a team.

The second half continued for Sidcup as the first half ended with a score out wide for Dave Harris. With John Cosh, VC for the day, maintaining the call from the coaches to keep the tempo high throughout the game diving over for a try shortly afterwards it looked as though fifty points would be possible. The replacements were making an impact, with Tom Beaumont, on his debut for the club scoring a well created try with a big assist from Dan Evans. With a brace of well taken scores from Phil Evans & 3 conversions by Dan Evans the final score was 61-0.

The coaches view of the performance was very positive, with some outstanding handling phases between forwards and backs during the whole game, under very poor conditions. It was very pleasing to see the set pieces working very well and the hard graft being done by all the forwards to set a great platform for the whole team to play from. The game is easy when you are behind a dominant pack! Well done to the front five who worked well in all aspects of the game. It was highlighted to all of the players at the end of the game that Dave, Tony and myself are committed to the 2XV this season and that attendance at training is paramount for success as Thursdays will be a chance for us to work on developing them as a team.

Every match report will have a Champagne moment which is a light hearted incident in the game & SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY and a Coaches NFI (note for improvement) WHICH IS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY ALL.

Champagne moment for this game has to be Alex Isaacs doing fantastically well to be up with play and join in a counter attack which had seen the ball go through many pairs of hands, only for Alex to realise he had approx 65 metres to go to the line and so drop the ball!
Coaches NFI - All players must ensure they arrive promptly by the agreed time. It is not fair on the rest of your team-mates who are waiting for you. You will be notified the meet time for the Saturday by Paul Edwards, Captain. Going forward, you will be also given a 'start time' when you will be expected to be on the pitch ready for 'warm ups etc'. PLEASE ensure you are there to contribute to what, we the coaches believe, will be a very successful season for our team, the Sidcup 2s!

Team - Evans D, Harris, Evans P, McPherson (Beaumont 40), James, Edwards (c), Eydmann (Robinson 40), Duffus (Hind 60), Cosh John (vc), Isaacs, Cooper, Wade (Boyle 40), Hill, Ford, Gilbert.

AH - 7 Sep 08