The Hurlingham Heist

With four sides out and several lads out in Dubai watching the 7s it was always going to be tough to pull together a side and the Thursday teamsheet brought devastating news that rocked the Choughs!

To the dismay of Choughs fans the world over, like a rare African White Rhino poached from its wildlife reservation, the Surrey Lock was poached by the twos for a home game v Chobham, sad times.

Never underestimate the power of Choughs networking though and with several mates being roped in and Riddolls turning up to the game with three extras we found ourselves with a decent bench for what promised to be a tough game against local rivals who had beaten the top two in the league in their last couple of games.

With regular scrum halves Lloyd Richardson and Ali Lindsay both out, Lloyd ‘Shakira’ Jones (those hips don’t lie) jumped in from his regular spot on the wing to form a Janner pivot with fellow Plymuff man, flyhalf Iain Buscombe.

Choughs leading try scorer, back row Ed Monkley took one for the team and jumped in at loose head.

After the standard quiet warmup the coin flip was expertly won ‪#‎neverindoubt‬ and we would be receiving the ball with the strong wind slightly in our favour. Rugby would happen!

Defying our usual slow starts the kick-off was well taken and the small but quick pack started hitting some strong lines with the pick and go and outside the halfbacks; Craig Monteiro and Nnamdi Obigwe carrying the ball hard on their Chough debuts.

After a series of strong phases a ruck infringement from H&F gave away a penalty in front of the posts and with Lawley on the bench, Buscombe obliged with the 3 points. 0-3 up with five mins on the clock.

The great early start continued for the Choughs. Our lack of lineout options was combatted by Coatesy calling 4 and 5 man throw-ins and taking most in difficult conditions. Our weakened pack was always going to be a concern in the scrum but we held firm and managed to even turnover an early put in with Ed ‘I hate propping’ Monkley giving the three different tight heads he faced a torrid time.

After a few more phases a rare Alex Coates try wide left put the Choughs 8-0 up within the first 15 mins and things were looking very good. Conversion missed with the very strong winds and difficult angle.

This early blitz from the Choughs seemed to wake up Hammers and they managed to wrestle back some possession. After a turnover in the middle of the park and a disjointed Choughs defence one of the oppo centres ran through and under the posts for a try which was then converted. 7-8 with 20 mins of the clock.

Another lapse of concentration in defence shortly after and the Hammers were through again wide right, they had turned the game around with 25 mins and the score was 12-8.

With Nnamdi needing physio on his problematic knee, the Choughs lack of forwards was highlighted with Shorty, or what appeared to be the ghost of Shorty after a heavy night out, coming on at 8, Preston heading into the second row.

On the pitch the game was turning a bit ugly with several fights off the ball. After a completely legal whilst admittedly pretty hard ruck clear-out by the skipper one of the oppo appeared to turn into some sort of rabid cat, spitting and scratching at my head on the floor. Several scraps followed this amongst the forwards, not really needed in a merit league game, or any for that matter.

The ref seemed quite oblivious to most of the forwards being out of the game as the backs continued getting the Choughs very close to the oppo try line but unfortunately to no avail.

Half Time and a Fired up Huddle. Score 12 - 8.

Rob Lawley and the self-titled ‘Mysterious’ Jake Cannon were on on the wings and Nnamdi was back on in the back row for me.

Unfortunately the second half started badly with another lapse in defence and some real pace letting Hammersmith through wide right. Conversion missed and we were 17 – 8 Down.

Various subs were brought on with rugby happening…… Sam Holdsworth on for Hursty at 13. Andy Collie returning after several months out at 15 and me back on for Shorty.

Thom Lang had seen our 8 point winning margin transformed to a 9 point losing one so decided to leave at this point, drastically depleting the away crowd (from 1 to 0). Shortly afterwards though some luckier charms turned up to support in the form of Choughs super fans Laura and Peggy Keith.

Their appearance must have had a positive effect on Keitho as he started to make some hard yards on the switch in the middle of the pitch and after several strong phases Lawley was over in the left corner. Even for the Lawley hammer the conversion from his left boot, wide left and into a gale was always going to be tough and the less said about it the better! We were back in the game though with 65 mins on the clock 17-13.

After five more minutes of battling in the middle of the pitch and a Preston line break the ball was swung out to the backs with the Mysterious one opening the throttle and making some hard yards down the right hand try line. Some rare Choughs flair and a couple of good offloads saw Keitho skip his man and run 30 yards to put the ball down wide right of the posts. Conversion missed but the Choughs were up by a point. 17-18 with 9 mins on the clock.

Some great game management by the Choughs kept the ball tight, with the forwards running hard, securing and slowing down the play and Keitho following suit with more big carries back inside from the 12 channel.
A few nervy moments ensued but the clock ticked down and finally Snakehips kicked the ball into touch for the final whistle.

Great spirit and win for the Choughs!

M.o.M – Lloyd Jones – Strong game in his third ever game at scrum half

D.o.D – Iain Buscombe for being from Devon and leaving club social early to go ice skating

Quote - Preston : 'I really have no idea how we won that'

SQUAD Monkley, Myatt, Carne, Coates, Obigwe, Newton, Monteiro, Preston, Jones, Buscombe, Baker, Keith, Hurst, Price, Riddolls SUBS Collie, Holdsworth, Lawley, Short, Jake Cannon