Old Millhillians RFC

This was not in the script !!!! Despite losing Martin Cooper-King and Alex Merody to training injuries, Maytham in Istanbul, OllieWetzig, Max CK and Sam Taylor to the exalted arena of 1st team rugby, Nic Connors-AWOL and Simon Evans still redeyed secondary to diving- a younger OM2nds held off the strong challenge of the lobbyists. Ed Young’s knowledge of this team prepared us for a battering up front.Totally outscrummaged in the first half by a heavier lobbyists pack, the game was scrappy and fairly even. Jamie kicked well and cleared our lines consistently. He always found touch. We were lucky to go in 5-0 up at half time.
Things improved in the 2nd half when our scrum became more solid and Jamie could provide wholesome ball to our speedy backs who started to run holes through their ageing backs. Several tries followed as their backs tired. Jamie had an even better game, creating havoc with his kicking where he set up several tries with chip kicks which our backs ran on to score. He did less refereeing than usual and will make up for this next week when he gets to referee a quarter!!
Half way through the second half, we had to endure the depressing sight of our talisman, Fran Morris, limping off with a season-ending leg injury-He has been our inspiration and he lifts the team by continually accentuating the positive. He never criticises his team-mates and uses warmth and personality to motivate all those around him. His presence radiates confidence and belief in others-I hope he will recover as he has played a vital role in the turnaround of team fortunes.
Our team did rally in spite of Fran’s departure-He has a good singing voice and will perform live next week. Stan took over at 9 and continued with providing great quality of service to Jamie-who I won’t bore you about-I do that every week!! Stan fits our unique team ethos really well and can adapt his game to any match situation. He does have this tendency to philosophise though-I wonder if that is a French thing.
Our man of the match was Joe Cousins at tight head for keeping the scrum intact. Guy and Martin worked well in the rucks and I got even more grunt out of Phil Smith-who was a thorn in the side of the lobbyists all afternoon. He got his reward with a well-taken conversion with the ball placed on the ground-For the benefit of those that don’t know, 2 weeks ago against SODAM, Phil did a conversion by dropping the ball straight from the hands on to his foot without the ball touching the ground(i.e. a punt)-The referee ruled it out.
Next week we play our most important match against the Civil Service Barbarians/London Museums, led by the incomparable Ashley Robinson-They beat us 20-12 at their ground in what has been described by many as the finest game of rugby ever played-Their team will feature Ed Young, Andrew Prynne and Mat Bullard, all of whom have worn OM colours this season.WAGS and parents will be present.
LET THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU
MABULLA!!!!!