Back
Sat 23 Sep 2017 · Division 6 West
Ravens I
Birkbeck Phantoms RFC
34
48
Birkbeck Phantoms record first win of the year
Glen Gallogly25 Sep 2017 - 14:34
Share via
Optimism from last week's result leads to a good win
Match report- Birkbeck Phantoms (55) vs Ravens (34).
Chris Lawrence - 24/09/2017
Scorers: Rafiq (3), Chris (3), Oli, Jamie, Davide. Conversions: Jamie (4) Dan (1)
Our third match of the season saw us head a few stops past our East London home (next week!) on the District line to Barking Rugby Club, where we faced one of the oldest clubs in the game. Ravens RFC were founded in 1875, only fourteen years after Il Risorgimento, the unification of Italy, taking their name from the famous inhabitants of the Tower of London. No doubt their originals, recruited from the East & West India Company, would have thoroughly approved of the pre match chat.
Both sides struggled for numbers, so the fixture was played as an 11 vs 11 match with 35 minute halves. After sizing up our opposition, we decided to keep the game plan simple: get the ball to the backs. Determined to avoid a slow start, the team fared well in the opening exchanges against a forward oriented attack, but we lost Andy early on to a knee injury. We missed him in the rest of the match, conceding shortly after due to missed first up tackles ("If he's there, hit him!" JW). We replied almost instantly, with Glen taking a quick lineout and the ball being put through the hands to Rafiq, whose score was disallowed because a spectator had touched the ball. Having seen what we needed to do, we promptly did it again; an overthrow landed in Glen’s hands and shipped out quickly to Raf who flew off to score under the posts. We probably had our best period in the game after that. Our tackles stopped their runners moving, and their support runners were too flat for their offloads to be effective. When Ravens did manage to move the ball wide, our drift defence allowed Oli and Chris to put their runners in touch. We saw less ball, but our men in the middle shielded possession well and once it moved wide our backs shredded the opposition, a point proved by Chris and Oli’s tries. Though we led at the break, our first up tackling continued to be mixed and we only led by two or four points depending on who you asked. We had racked up five tries, including a first score for Oli, but it was Jamie's pin point kicking for goal that was the difference.
We started the second half in disappointing fashion, shipping two soft tries, both under the posts and converted, maybe due to a mistaken belief the game was already won In this game, however, we didn't panic, or stop trying, we kept to our game plan, and scored from the next kickoff. Though Ravens had regained the lead, their defence had begun to leave gaps, and some delightful running of both the straight and Sonny Bill Williams-esque variety lead to scores. From Davide an (offload in the tackle from Glen allowed Davide to jink his way through for a delightful score A brilliant run from Charles on his return and then hands from Davide, Oli and Chris set Jamie off in a footrace for the line, which he won.A good run from Dre and rucking from Marc and Charles led to an opportunity, hands from Dan and Jamie put Rafiq into space whereupon he used his week studying Sonny Bill Williams to good effect, displaying an ballerina’s skill to evade tackles, a showboat ‘skip’ got him over the line. Chris completed a marvellous hat trick after being found in space by Dan and again beating the defence with sheer pace. Our scorers had good platform to work from, with Dre's measured aggression in the loose forcing defenders to commit. On the kickoff, Ravens' reluctance to claim the ball allowed our chasers to get in close and force mistakes. Glen caught every kickoff to us bar one, and his attacking nous saw us create opportunities where Ravens did not. Though they did post one more try, it was unconverted and the effort of having to go 90m from the restart drained them, and our front five demolished their bigger opponents at a late scrum. In one brilliant moment, Charles brushed off five defenders as lightly as water from an elephants back, before his 20m dash was halted. Final word went to Raf, whose showboating as he went under the posts was thoroughly deserving of the futile yet aggressive tackle from the chasing wing.
A first win of the season for Birkbeck Phantoms was duly celebrated in the pleasant surroundings of a club notable for producing many internationals. It was quite something to play on their first XV pitch, complete with stand. Thanks in particular to Marc, whose solidity in the front row belied his years out of the sport, and Davide who played a fantastic game at scrum half.
MoTm- Rafiq (Charles took the pint for his barrelling run)
Dick of the Day- Was hard to pick a Dick, however Marc received it for turning up, more of a reward really and he very nearly won the drink off!
Though the score was reported as 48-34, another of our tries appears to have been discounted by the referee, believe the correct score should have been 55-34
We return to our East London home next week, for a 3pm kickoff against Dagenham.
Birkbeck Phantoms: Jamie (1T, 4C) Rafiq (3T), Davide (1T), Chris (3T), Oli (1T), Andy, Dan (1C), Charles, Marc, Glen, Dre
http://essexrfu.pitchero.com/competitions-250/the-shepherd-neame-essex-merit-division-6-west-35560/
Chris Lawrence - 24/09/2017
Scorers: Rafiq (3), Chris (3), Oli, Jamie, Davide. Conversions: Jamie (4) Dan (1)
Our third match of the season saw us head a few stops past our East London home (next week!) on the District line to Barking Rugby Club, where we faced one of the oldest clubs in the game. Ravens RFC were founded in 1875, only fourteen years after Il Risorgimento, the unification of Italy, taking their name from the famous inhabitants of the Tower of London. No doubt their originals, recruited from the East & West India Company, would have thoroughly approved of the pre match chat.
Both sides struggled for numbers, so the fixture was played as an 11 vs 11 match with 35 minute halves. After sizing up our opposition, we decided to keep the game plan simple: get the ball to the backs. Determined to avoid a slow start, the team fared well in the opening exchanges against a forward oriented attack, but we lost Andy early on to a knee injury. We missed him in the rest of the match, conceding shortly after due to missed first up tackles ("If he's there, hit him!" JW). We replied almost instantly, with Glen taking a quick lineout and the ball being put through the hands to Rafiq, whose score was disallowed because a spectator had touched the ball. Having seen what we needed to do, we promptly did it again; an overthrow landed in Glen’s hands and shipped out quickly to Raf who flew off to score under the posts. We probably had our best period in the game after that. Our tackles stopped their runners moving, and their support runners were too flat for their offloads to be effective. When Ravens did manage to move the ball wide, our drift defence allowed Oli and Chris to put their runners in touch. We saw less ball, but our men in the middle shielded possession well and once it moved wide our backs shredded the opposition, a point proved by Chris and Oli’s tries. Though we led at the break, our first up tackling continued to be mixed and we only led by two or four points depending on who you asked. We had racked up five tries, including a first score for Oli, but it was Jamie's pin point kicking for goal that was the difference.
We started the second half in disappointing fashion, shipping two soft tries, both under the posts and converted, maybe due to a mistaken belief the game was already won In this game, however, we didn't panic, or stop trying, we kept to our game plan, and scored from the next kickoff. Though Ravens had regained the lead, their defence had begun to leave gaps, and some delightful running of both the straight and Sonny Bill Williams-esque variety lead to scores. From Davide an (offload in the tackle from Glen allowed Davide to jink his way through for a delightful score A brilliant run from Charles on his return and then hands from Davide, Oli and Chris set Jamie off in a footrace for the line, which he won.A good run from Dre and rucking from Marc and Charles led to an opportunity, hands from Dan and Jamie put Rafiq into space whereupon he used his week studying Sonny Bill Williams to good effect, displaying an ballerina’s skill to evade tackles, a showboat ‘skip’ got him over the line. Chris completed a marvellous hat trick after being found in space by Dan and again beating the defence with sheer pace. Our scorers had good platform to work from, with Dre's measured aggression in the loose forcing defenders to commit. On the kickoff, Ravens' reluctance to claim the ball allowed our chasers to get in close and force mistakes. Glen caught every kickoff to us bar one, and his attacking nous saw us create opportunities where Ravens did not. Though they did post one more try, it was unconverted and the effort of having to go 90m from the restart drained them, and our front five demolished their bigger opponents at a late scrum. In one brilliant moment, Charles brushed off five defenders as lightly as water from an elephants back, before his 20m dash was halted. Final word went to Raf, whose showboating as he went under the posts was thoroughly deserving of the futile yet aggressive tackle from the chasing wing.
A first win of the season for Birkbeck Phantoms was duly celebrated in the pleasant surroundings of a club notable for producing many internationals. It was quite something to play on their first XV pitch, complete with stand. Thanks in particular to Marc, whose solidity in the front row belied his years out of the sport, and Davide who played a fantastic game at scrum half.
MoTm- Rafiq (Charles took the pint for his barrelling run)
Dick of the Day- Was hard to pick a Dick, however Marc received it for turning up, more of a reward really and he very nearly won the drink off!
Though the score was reported as 48-34, another of our tries appears to have been discounted by the referee, believe the correct score should have been 55-34
We return to our East London home next week, for a 3pm kickoff against Dagenham.
Birkbeck Phantoms: Jamie (1T, 4C) Rafiq (3T), Davide (1T), Chris (3T), Oli (1T), Andy, Dan (1C), Charles, Marc, Glen, Dre
http://essexrfu.pitchero.com/competitions-250/the-shepherd-neame-essex-merit-division-6-west-35560/
Further reading
Team Sponsors
