Six weeks of summer training have concentrated on fitness, basic handling and defensive strategies while recent sessions have included some of the finer arts of scrummaging and the lineout. Attendance at training has been largely encouraging, with numbers auguring well for the commitment to three sides this season. All this preparation has been rewarded by the performances in the warm up games which have produced a more convincing, positive forward effort and some polished try scoring, which were not always achieved in tandem last season. There is no doubt how much better prepared the side is compared to this time last year, with forwards and backs combining effectively within a structured game plan.
A run out against what will be a strong Hove XV on the 2nd September will be the final dress rehearsal before the opening league match, against last season’s runners-up Thanet Wanderers, the following weekend.
The match against a nominal Sidcup second team, kindly hosted at Charlton Park under lights, was a reminder that physicality and ball retention are the foundations of every game. The Old Boys showed plenty of appetite for a fast, open and physical encounter at Kidbrooke in which the score line see-sawed right up to the last 10 minutes
New recruit Conor Mitchell and the ever-competitive Rhys Bozier were able to run hard into contact and find good support close to the breakdown while the industry and commitment of skipper Pete Jefferys and James Oddy once again tied the whole forward effort together to produce vital continuity. Oddy finished off a great team play with a try under the posts, initiated way back on the halfway line. Outside, the OD half backs, Tom Coombs and Mike Ubee impressed with their kicking and decision making to give the back three every opportunity to test the opposition. One solo effort from Ubee resulted in an excellent try while debutant Charlie Banks also made his mark, with an impressive turn of speed and intelligent support play. Jamal Gobir was typically elusive to get on the score sheet twice while young Callum Maclennan belied his years with a calm and assured performance at full back. At centre, Rob Deane, Rory Palmer and Mat Payne distributed the ball well enough, without perhaps finding the defensive cohesion in this first outing to resist the strong running of an organised Sidcup attack. Some of the tackling in other parts of the field was also, quite literally, hit and miss.
Not so against Warlingham, 3 days later, when the team’s defensive effort and communication could not be faulted. Another competitive game saw the OD’s increasingly dominate all phases, though admittedly across four quarters, Warlingham experimented with a large group of players. The smaller OD squad benefitted from fewer changes and found a second wind to pull away comfortably in the final phase, with Rhys Bozier (3), Josh Ajiboye (2), Jamal Gobir (2) and Mal Connolly (1) notching eight tries between them and Maclennan adding seven conversions. Particularly pleasing on the day was the scrummaging effort led by Jamie Pecorella and the all field contribution from man of the match, Tom McNamarra.
Phil Ubee, Seniors Head Coach at Langley Park, could afford a smile at the clubhouse on Saturday evening in the knowledge that both his senior teams (soon to be three) had emerged from a testing week with plenty of credit – notwithstanding a few bumps and bruises. “If we can consolidate on these performances and put some good work in over the next two weeks, I think we will give ourselves every chance against what will assuredly be a stern test of our ambition in September’s league fixtures. I am looking forward to the challenge and seeing how far the club has come in the last 12 months”, he says.