Antlers eventually pull it together to see off a strong Freemens XV

Teddington (35) v (23) Old Freemens - Surrey League 1.

The 1^st XV pre match rituals are always the same, our coach Giselle and the players like it that way, it creates calmness and order, and it always starts at least 2 hours before kick off; Meet up, Tape up, Warm up, Talk up, PLAY.

Well on Saturday the routine was disturbed and the 6 month winning streak nearly came to an end. To start with team captain Pete WHYTE and his loyal side kick Jon DICKSON turned up late. They offered that feeble and over used excuse of “Sorry we’re late but we got stopped by the police, and we nearly got arrested for…..well for being Antlers players whilst driving in Bushy Park.” yeah, yeah, yeah, no need to embellish it that much, everyone laughed. But this laugh was nowhere near the roar which greeted centre Timmy HOLDSWORTH as he arrived wearing an Alice Band. He looked like the  lovechild of a freakish affair between Carlos Tevez and Anne Widdecombe.

Next it dawned on the players that Aileen our physio had taken the day off, how would the boys cope without their Florence Nightingale to rub and stretch and tape their heads and limbs, especially James ‘the Mummy’ FERGUSON who requires every single joint, muscle and tendon on his body to be swathed in tape. What made it worse was that Aileen had entrusted our captain and sidekick to bring her box of tapes, rub and stuff to the club.

Then the final straw, in a cloud of dust and a screeching of brakes the local Constabulary arrived outside the club. Out of the car sprang a puce, seething, angry Constable, who demanded to see the person in charge. If it had been April 1^st I would have laughed all the way through his 10 minute rant, then my smile became grimace when it became apparent from the big bulging vein on his neck that he was serious. I feared the worse when I lit the blue touch paper and had the audacity to suggest that he had got his facts wrong and should go away and check. Luckily he stormed off into his panda car and disappeared towards the Parks Superintendents Office, scattering dogs, players and small children in his wake.

As you can imagine all these distractions completely disturbed the normal routine of the players. Freemens on the other hand had arrived en masse and in plenty of time, changed together, warmed up together and looked well prepared and ready for the battle ahead.

One of the anomalies of the weather induced fixture backlog meant that we have ended up playing the home and away legs of the league fixtures against Old Freemens on consecutive Saturdays. This was the first installment of the sporting drama. In fact this opening chapter provided all the elements for a Hollywood blockbuster; Plotline, Suspense, Love interest, Special effects, and thrills and spills. I wonder if the second installment will be able to compete.

During the opening ten minutes our minds were in the oven and our bodies in the freezer. We just weren’t ready.  Freemens however were certainly up for it. They battled for everything, and when they got the ball they kept it and battered away around the fringes of rucks and mauls. Our fragile defence soon gave way, and Freemens scored their first try. Within minutes they had done it again. We were 10-0 down, and was that the faintest smell of the seasons first defeat in the air?...... Not likely. With a synchronized rolling up of the sleeves and a sharp intake of breath the guys got themselves going. We started to dominate the set pieces, and our front row of Pete WHYTE, Martin DONNELLY and Zak SCOTT caused all sorts of bother not only in the scrums but all over the park.  Callum JOHNSTON was superb in the lineout snaffling every ball that came near him and the back row began to drive every attack from Freemens back from whence it had come. This all set the foundations for some territorial dominance which eventually resulted in two penalty attempts neatly taken by Tom DORAN. With the Freemens line coming within range it was only a matter of time before we could unleash our not so secret weapon, Big FERG FARRELL. The gun was loaded and trigger pulled and the big man crashed over for a converted try. In a blink of an eye we were 13-10 up approaching the break. Then more drama, we took our foot off the pedal and had another lapse of concentration, this allowed a resolute Freemens XV to get back into the game. They exerted more pressure and were rewarded with 2 penalties, which they slotted and it was them who finished the half on top, leading 16-13.

The second half started and we held our nerve. A game plan was followed and everyone seemed to be pulling together. The set pieces clicked through the gears and quality ball started to find its way to our flying backs as well. This changed the focus for the attacks and soon fly half Paul MANLEY was controlling the game. He got the backs moving and even cropped up wide on the left wing to finish off a move which he had started. His try was converted by Tom DORAN. We continued to mix things up and this was starting to overstretch the Freemens defence, a perfect scenario for Big FERG to bag another try.

Old Freemens then had a further flurry of their own, resulting in a series drives up the centre of the park, the ball was delivered to their centre who crashed over the line, and with the conversion Freemens had brought themselves back to within 2 points. They just wouldn’t lie down. But we did not panic, we knew we could turn up the tempo another notch or two, and that’s what we did. Almost immediately we got ourselves back on the scoreboard with a penalty from Mark NITSCH (back after a month in New Zealand) which was followed by Big FERG’s third try of the afternoon. NITSCHY kicked the conversion and we managed to shut the game down for the final 10 minutes. Another win, another test of character successfully overcome. But the disrupted preparation beforehand and the opening minutes of this game provided a stark lesson to one and all. Unless you’re a middle aged woman or Italian footballer never wear an Alice Band, and don’t believe everything that a policeman tells you.

So let’s hope the return fixture next week has the same result but with a better opening sequence!!!!  Oh I forgot to mention, just before kick off a rather sheepish Parks Policeman returned to the club to apologise for his earlier outburst, and for wrongfully stopping and berating our 1st XV captain.