Park House FC

I think this game was won when OD's turned up. Why ? Because they looked the part, the 2's "had a chat", concentrated their thoughts & simply set out to prove a point to themselves, & my oh my, how good does it feel when you do ?

The early minutes were a little cagey with PH playing towards the clubhouse, but after a couple of centre breaks & the 1st decent drive towards the OD's 22 a penalty was awarded in front of the posts, & Capt. Kev decided that he wanted max. pressure applied & opted for the lineout kick.
It was well taken & a few well retained phases later, PH were camped right across the actual OD's line & with OD's similarly spread to defend such placement, it was a simple pick up & dive over for Greg Thomson, 7-0 PH.

With an early mark stamped on the game, what followed for the next 20 minutes was what has been described by various spectators & referee alike as "probably the most perfect & enjoyable rugby I've seen so far". One PH spectator ( who I won't embarrass by naming )actually said "thank you, it's makes me come up in goosebumps seeing us play like that".

Great scrummaging, superb rucking, excellent clearing out, turned over mauls ( & this was being done by forwards & backs alike ) meant possession that was used clinically, intelligently & passionately. It was best demonstrated with the next try when OD's were turned over on the halfway by Paul Softley ( superb game), 2 quick rucks ensued with Kev Putts delivering clean ball to the backs, Frost made the break & set off for the line & drew the last man for the offload 5 metres out to the ever present Greg Thomson. It was a beautiful try because so many had a hand in it's creation. 12-0

If what preceeded it was enjoyable to watch, then immediately afterwards was Oscar winning material. 10 minutes of beautiful, fluid, committed rugby. Played with a passion that would make a hardened opera goer cry with joy. 1/2 breaks, stolen scrums, hard tackles, more turnovers, perfect line kicks, clean high ball takes. Seriously, it was a beautiful thing to be part of.

The next try came when perhaps the speed of rucking became so fast that the ball came out a little sloppy, the pass to the backs was looped out, Frost had to step back inside, but kept stepping & broke through to the right touchline, fed Softley who took it a further 20 meters before feeding inside to the back row, and despite the attack being stopped on the line, 2 rucks later it was over for a further score (dammit, can't remember who ) 19 - 0

OD's were 1st to score after the break, when an uncharacteristic PH lack of communication allowed them (OD's)to break blind off a scrum & they took the chance very well, interpassing for 40metres until they crossed the line. 19 - 7.
Partly rejuvenated OD's tried to step up their attacking game, but they were snuffed out in the middle, so they went to the fringes where they got no change either. They tried the kick through & the kick over method, but Andy Millar (who had a superb game ) locked the door on that option, & finally they were forced to kick for territory & hope something might happen. PH on the other hand, through the tactical guidance of Sweaty, seemed to be playing 3 moves ahead, & after a superb backs move that almost saw Gravesy cross the line in the far right corner, the ball went across the pitch the other way for Jo Millward to pick up a try on his return to the season. 24 -7

The backrow were again on the scoresheet off great lineout work by Kev & Sharky with the ball out to Will Madine, who set off through their forwards, being forced to offload it to PH's no.8 who took it over the line 29 -7.

Finally, in what was the sweetest move of the match, the pack took a clean heel on the halfway line, drove it forwards a couple of metres, keeping the OD's back row true to the scrum, the ball was fed swiftly to Sweats, who popped & looped Gravesy, took the return pass, fed Frost a wide ball, who fed Andy Millar coming into the line at pace, & his perfect pass gave Ollie the chance to show his pace as he went cleanly outside his man for a 30 metre run. This try probably best demonstrated what had been going on all day, "getting the basics right, & enjoying the pleasure that comes from it".

It was intelligent rugby throughout, & here's a tiny inkling of why it worked. Go back to that 1st try. Picture a small, 3 from each side ruck, 1 attacker standing off, close to the scrum half. Now as a defender you look up & see that 5 yards to the side there's a dirty great prop whose just shifted into place to attack a weak spot, 3 defenders leave the ruck area to cover it, & no sooner than they do, the attacker waiting at the ruck senses his chance, picks up & dives over. Yup, that's how it was scored & it owes as much to John Murray's off the ball movement as Greg's impeccable sense of timing.

A true team performance, & once again, the reason that I love playing my rugby at Park House. Thank you boys