Unlucky for Chiswick

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Rugby Result - U.C.S. Old Boys 22 Chiswick 15

This was third time lucky for UCS, beaten by Chiswick in league and Cup earlier, and they deserved their win. With neither team at full strength, Chiswick failed to raise their game at crucial moments, and also gave UCS a good start with poor defending in the first couple of minutes.

With the wind and the slope, Chiswick kicked the ball long, but UCS made a very good break from their 22 up to the Chiswick 22, with several missed tackles, and on about fourth phase moved the ball out to their right wing to score in the corner. The conversion attempt failed.

Chiswick stormed back, and an offside decision allowed Keith Luckman to find touch about 8 metres out. Matt Vinden took the lineout ball, and after a maul the ball went to Alastair Pickering, who was pulled up just short.

Quick ball saw full back Jon Lovell in the line, to give Dan Coffey an inside pass, and the wing muscled over the line. Luckman got the conversion, and it was game on.

The next Chiswick move was perhaps the first crucial point in the match. The speedy Lee Miller broke down the left wing, but with one player to beat, he had no immediate support, and although eventually Luckman dropped a good goal, a chance to demoralise the opponents had gone. UCS picked up three points for a penalty given for hands in the ruck, and then came the second crucial point, as a Chiswick player was sin-binned. The penalty conceded another three points, and UCS were ahead. Chiswick struggled for a while, but then as UCS tried to run the ball in their own half, Alastair Pickering got a clever interception, and scored in the left corner.

Luckman just failed with the conversion attempt. Chiswick came close several times, but it was UCS who got another penalty to leave one point difference at half time.

A strange crossing decision against Chiswick, as they were running the ball up-field from the kick-off gifted the home team three points at the beginning of the second half, and from then on Chiswick were up against it, as more and more penalties were awarded to the home team.

Chiswick played well to keep the ball out of their 22 for long periods in this half, but with Glen Ambrose under a lot of pressure behind a rather ragged scrum, opportunities for the Chiswick threes were scarce. Coffey followed up one kick and got the ball to Sam Brown, but Alastair Pickering was just tap-tackled on his way to the posts. Tom Lovell made one good break, but the UCS defence never allowed an overlap to develop.

Despite tremendous efforts by the whole Chiswick team, with Alastair Pickering outstanding throughout, the crucial score would just not come, and with UCS using the wind to pin Chiswick in their own 22 in the last few minutes, it was no surprise when, after defending several mauls well, a series of home scrums resulted in a home forward crawling over the line for a final try.

Chiswick team :- Donaldson, Pickering E, Campbell ( Betts ), Johnson, Chraplewczyk, Maguire, Pickering, Vinden ( Robbings ), Ambrose, Luckman, Miller, Lovell T, Brown, Coffey, Lovell J

February 27, 2006