No romp in the Park for As

Everyone took their roles seriously and played hard for the whole game. There was no faulting the work-rate and effort, but we were beaten by a stronger team who were playing for survival in Division 1. Having already been relegated the previous match and with a handful of key players missing due to school sevens duty, we were always going to be struggling.

Hugo French manfully took on the mantle of flanker and played with endeavour throughout the whole match. Sam Turton knew that it was touch and go at the start, gave his all, but was injured early on and George Bridgewater had to play a part of the game in the forwards; there were no complaints and much graft. Benedict White had to start at prop and our front row including Callum Logan and Ben Weaver were dominant from the start. Boyan Ceceric showed again that he is beginning to find his feet in the game and it is clear that his athleticism and strength are going to continue to be an asset next year. We were all glad to have George Rivet back after his knee injury and he had a solid game from the base of the scrum.

The first half was a one-sided affair with Old A's having a 24-0 half-time lead. Half time brought much needed respite in the large frame of Zico who had gone to the wrong grounds, but was still desperate to play for the team and so made his way to Gunnersbury Park. We still won every single scrum thereafter and George could go back to scrum half. Will had filled in fantastically and went back to being strong on the wing. The early season investment in playing scrum half is certainly paying dividends.

Archie Turner, Jed Allen and Matthew Delargy shared most of the back three duties and sadly got little of the ball other than when it was kicked over their heads There was much chasing back and having to make the hard yards and tackles. Jed was strong in returning the high ball and Matthew and Archie were solid in defence.

Two more tries from Old A's could have resulted in the team losing focus and motivation, but this was not the case. All the players kept their heads up and worked hard; a brilliant piece of quick ball through the hands to Omari saw a startling line break and a great off-load to Sam Cunningham who worked hard to provide support and make hard yards. Sam's try was well-deserved. Alfie's kicking tee went missing, so he showed all his sevens skills to do a great drop kick for the extra points. Old A's scored again, but our boys kept working hard. Adeola finally saw some of the ball and ran the length of the pitch to come close for another score followed by another great line of running which saw Omari Davies through for our second score.

The supporters and coaches are justifiably proud of our team who have competed hard in this Division, came close on many occasions, and will now look to have a strong season in Division 2 before bouncing straight but up.

Joint man of the match: Benedict for winning the ball in contact and Omari for chasing tackles all day and making strong line breaks.

Despatches: Alfie and Ben as captain and pack leader, respectively. They've had a hard season and kept the team working together.

Match Report Anthony Bull