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Match report by Justin Fitzsimmons

Match report by Justin Fitzsimmons

Richard Green9 Dec 2014 - 10:37
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Belsize 44 Wasps Old Men 10

Belsize Park Vs 44 WASPs Occys 10
A beautiful early winter's day, near perfect conditions: a little greasy underfoot, blue skies, v light winds. Initially doubts as to whether the Oppo had a full compliment were allayed and by kick-off they had 15 plus an executive sub (Steve more of whom later). WASPs on the other hand rocked up with a full crew of 20, which was just as well given how things went. There were plenty, some old reliable hands, some back from injury or in one case back from afar to injury, some new-ish and debuts for us in the form of the perfectly measured Mr Aslam and the extremely keen Yasu. It was great also that there were numerous spectators the non-combatants aside it was endearing to see Tony lend support and promising that Murray and Sharkey were there too.

And the game?
It looked like a lot of fun to me. They were younger and fitter, we were heavier and stronger, but their organisation was what made the difference, that and our severely depleted midfield (come back Dawson, Santi and Guillaume). Their recycling and well executed plays with a little more pace made it tricky. Then there were the interchanges: executive player Steve had hoped to play 10mins at the end but an early injury led him onto the turf for a v decent 70. On the other hand, On our side. After a lively start Yasu had a calf strain, Seb and Fab knees, Hodgey worn out and Aaron out of steam- all of whom had good runs while they lasted. However, that did leave a lot of re-jigging to do & some out of position playing. I won't go into too much detail here but our pick'n'go is good and can be better and a very strong finish saw them iteratively pinned to the line.

Man of the Match was Murph for running nice lines, getting low in contact, good attitude and starting to get the hang of things. Likewise was Dom, great takes of high balls (call it though!), a solid 80 mins marred by one anomaly more of which below. Prof Bull was inspirational, ran some great lines and scored.

Dick of the day almost went to Bish, when he made the unusual decision to start dancing 1 yard out with one player ahead- another guy caught up and between them they popped the ball off him. Luckily for Bish the ball went backwards and he grounded it. Clyde was also in the running for not running enough at full back ( show ponies is Monday, on Saturday it's rugby), BUT snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was Dom who at one point presented the ball in perfect North-South alignment all 6' 5" and v long arms but, malheuresment, precisely the wrong way.

It was a great day out and the bonhomie was further emphasised by the presentation of a bottle of Port from Steve for which we are grateful. I much look forward to the next game on 10 Jan 15. A win in the New Year would be good, but a good run is still a good run- well done one and all.

Justin

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