Who Dares, Wins

A hard-fought encounter was anticipated between two sides who have their eye on bigger and better things in the south east London rugby scene. Both clubs have enjoyed league success in recent weeks and were keen to measure their progress against each other. How far the rain affected pitch restricted attacking ambitions would largely determine the tenor of the game and decide its outcome. The early season contest at Langley Park gave Crowborough the belief, given recent form, that they might reverse the result on home clay while Dunstonians came to prove their new status as one of the league’s top teams and second highest points scorer. However, try-scoring opportunities were to be few and far between, requiring the winners to rise to the physical challenge and take their chances when they came. If the teams were fairly evenly matched in the first regard, OD’s certainly performed better in the second as ‘Boro laboured to convert their pressure into points in both halves.
The game quickly got bogged down in the first ten minutes, with both sets of forwards securing set piece ball but not making much headway with it. The stalemate was broken when OD’s fielded an innocuous kick from the sure footed ‘Boro full back out of defence. The pressure from the chasing Crowborough backs forced a touchline fumble which allowed their fly-half Sam Kisbee to win the chase to the line. The breakaway try seemed to unsettle the visitors who were struggling to establish any real momentum against opponents who were coping better with the heavy pitch and monopolising possession. Slowly, Dunstonians ramped up their efforts to win a penalty on the half hour, which Mike Ubee struck sweetly off the tee. Back came Crows to exert an intense period of pressure before half time on which, ominously, they failed to capitalise. Prop Josh Ajiboye led the OD resistance with some outstanding work at the breakdown, at one point, turning the ball over right under the OD sticks, with the Crowborough backs lined up to score. Elsewhere, centre Sam Mansfield and wingers Jamal Gobir and Rory Palmer were defending bravely and effectively against some direct, hard running from their opposite numbers. Crowborough’s failure to score at one end allowed OD’s to succeed at the other. Some trademark improvisation swung the momentum, crucially, just before the half time whistle. Again, fielding a speculative clearing kick, Mike Ubee jinked and accelerated past the first line of ‘Boro defenders, giving his forwards a rare chance to drive towards the opposition line. James Oddy looked in the clear but the scramble defence hauled him down just short. Fortunately, the ever-present Phil Grayson was able to gather the off-load and force his way over to give OD’s the lead. Ubee added the extras to finish what he had started.
At 5-10, the first score after the break would be critical. With the game increasingly punctuated with unforced errors from both sides tiring in the cloying surface, Dunstonians were repeatedly penalised for infringements in the loose, eventually resulting in hooker Conor Mitchell leaving the field for 10 minutes. Against fourteen, the home side might, again, have expected to take the advantage but, once more, failed to register any points. It was then that OD second row colossus Tom McNamara produced a magnificent solo effort to turn the tables on a Crowborough side that had been unable to cut loose. Taking a short pass from the mercurial Ubee, the angular lock defied the underfoot conditions, and to a certain extent the laws of gravity, to blast through the Crowborough mid-field defence, wrong-foot the full back and win the race to the line from fully 30 metres out, with defenders hanging from every appendage. Ubee converted to take the visitors to a more comfortable 5-17 lead.
With plenty left on the clock, Crowborough had time to deliver a riposte but were running short of attacking ideas. The attritional game they opted for, while rooted firmly in the old boys’ 22, nevertheless played into the hands of a side whose spirit and resolve are not in doubt these days. Yet again, it was the OD defensive organisation and decisive tackling that restricted options for the Sussex side, even when the referee saw fit to dismiss another OD forward for a scrum infringement. Under immense pressure, OD’s creaked and groaned in the effort to defend their lead, finally conceding a clunky pick and drive try in the dying minutes, but it was too little too late.
Having enjoyed 20 minutes of the game playing against 14 men, with long periods of territorial advantage, Crowborough ultimately lacked the vision, beyond the clamour for a penalty try, to win the game and therefore exacted a meagre return in front of their frustrated home crowd. However, OD’s are becoming a difficult side to break down and can win games against the run of play, based on solid defence interspersed with flashes of individual and collective creativity. It is, moreover, their ambition to run and pass the ball that brings its just rewards.
Scorers
Tries: Grayson, McNamara
Conversions: Ubee (2)
Penalties: Ubee,
MoM: Mike Ubee, sure-footed and quick-thinking, he guided his forwards smoothly around the pitch on limited possession. Initiating the first half try and kicking all his goals, his tackle count was outstanding and facial expressions priceless.