Antlers outmuscle Ironsides

It was yet another wet, windy and muddy Saturday afternoon and that combined with the fact that our official photographer was away sunning himself on the beaches of Sri Lanka means there are no shots of the action this week.

For the regular touchline inhabitant of Bushy Park its common knowledge that all Antlers teams whatever the weather, opposition or team selection try and play fast flowing expansive rugby from any given point on the pitch, no matter what the score or importance of the game. This is certainly true of this Antlers team, but conditions this season have rarely allowed them to play in their chosen style, as hard as they may try. Last week being the exception, even though we had the usual wind and rain, there was also a fantastic surface at Old Mid-Whitgiftians on which the Antlers backline could express themselves. They duly cut The Midwives defence to shreds in a 59-5 rout. So on Saturday for the umpteenth time this season the game plan had to adapt to the conditions, especially as we were up against a physical and well drilled Battersea Ironsides team and the pitch was the consistency of a rice pudding. I'm pleased to say that this time the plan was executed to perfection by an Antlers team not on the face of it set up for a territorial keep ball.

The Teddington team was led out by centre Chris DICKSON (pictured above), who was playing in his milestone 100th game for the 1st XV and the boys were desperate to mark the occasion with a win. Playing into the driving rain and howling gale Teddington strapped themselves in for a first half of defensive graft, but after 2 minutes of possession rugby we found ourselves with a line out deep inside the Ironsides 22. The ball was caught and driven, the superbly organised and dynamic driving maul with No 8 Dom STONE at the helm duly chugged over the line and we found ourselves 5-0 up.

As expected The Ironsides using the prevailing conditions then kept Teddington pinned close to their line for vast swathes of time. But time after time the defensive line held, but the penalties started to come. After 15 minutes and again after 20 minutes two of these penalties were kicked and Ironsides were deservedly 6-5 up. Two more efforts at the posts squirted wide and one even had to be taken twice (both attempts missing) after Antlers blind side Olly HOLLAND mysteriously tried to charge one of them down.

Just before the break Ironsides did breach the Teddington defence and with the try converted found themselves 13-5 up at half time.

The Teddington players started the second half knowing that they had to use the conditions to their advantage in order to catch and possibly overtake the halftime deficit, but they had to be patient. But once again Antlers caught Ironsides on the hop, within a minute of the re-start Antlers had kicked themselves deep into Ironsides territory. Then with some straight running and deft handling replacement flanker Dave GREEN dotted down to ease the nerves and put Teddington within 3 points of Battersea and with nearly 40 minutes still on the clock there was still plenty of time to turn things round. Teddington needed to play the territorial game and with fly half Paul MANLEY controlling things and the forwards and backs putting their heart and soul into every run, every tackle, every ruck and maul the screw started to turn. The lightweight but technically astute Teddington front row of 'Bez' BERRY, Rory MERCER, Tom COLLETT and second half hooker replacement Tim HOLDSWORTH, put in a huge shift and scrummaged themselves to an exhausted standstill.

Eventually the Teddington pressure told and Paul MANLEY saw his chance and nipped down the blind-side, he danced past the first two defenders and with the cover streaming across and winger Jack ARUNDEL ready to receive the try scoring pass MANLEY had other ideas, he slammed in one of his trade mark hop, skips and a swivel and crashed over the line himself. Bob BEEVERS slotted the conversion and Antlers were 17-13 up, but there was still 20 minutes to weather the inevitable Ironsides backlash.

Ironsides turned up the heat, but try as they did every time they worked their way into Teddington territory they were put under huge pressure by wave after wave of dark blue defenders and forced into errors or turned over. The ball would then be kicked back into the corners and the process started again. Ironsides were trying to snatch a match winning try at the death and Teddington were also trying to score another try to guarantee the victory and a 4 try bonus point. This all ensured that the final minutes were tense and enthralling and ensured that the brave few on the touchlines couldn't head off to the warmth of the clubhouse until the final whistle was blown. It remained 17-13 until the final whistle.

This was a really epic encounter that proved to everyone watching and more importantly to the Teddington players themselves that if they have to they can play to a game plan other than one found in the Barbarians play-book.

Well done to the whole squad of 18 and especially to Chris DICKSON who could remember his special day for the victorious rugby match rather than the varying types of alcohol he had to rapidly consume post game and post haste.

Stat of the day
So far this season Teddington have conceded the fewest points of any team in the league....One of the many reasons why we currently sit second in the league