Oct 12

Written by: Richard Drage
12/10/2009 13:55

This week Reigate returned to cup action in the Junior Vase, with last weeks encouraging performance in the league giving players and spectators alike a good reason to be optimistic. The opposition from Shooters Hill play in Kent 2, two leagues higher than Reigate. A quick assessment of the two sides during the warm up indicated that the afternoon’s fixture would be a clash of styles, Shooters Hill sporting a tight five that could only be described as sturdy. Reigate on the other hand losing the services of Wes Parker at hooker and the lineout presence of 7 foot Adam Bettley in the second row due to injury were somewhat diminished from the side playing the previous week. A further blow was the withdrawal of Simon King who made such a dramatic impact on the game last week. Whilst the withdrawal was a disappointment it was with good reason, the club, players and supporters would like to congratulate Mr and Mrs King on the birth of their second child, although it would be appreciated if all future deliveries could occur in the off the season, or at least in the earlier part of the week. The organisation saw second team captain Stu Stodart moving in to the hooker berth and James Alexander make a return at scrum half.

The sunshine from last week was replaced by cloud and a strong cross wind, Reigate opened brightly carrying on from last week with the back line running good lines. The pack giving away more than a stone a man to the opposition refused to let the disadvantage prevent them from playing the game plan which is starting emerge from the training field retaining the ball well and winning the early collisions. At scrum time the hefty Shooters Hill pack had the opportunity to make the advantage pay by regularly shunting Reigate down the field. Bleddyn Davies and Will Griffiths regularly tested the Shooters Hill midfield defence with strong runs but found any holes were quickly closed. With the ball in hand Reigate continually test and probed and looked comfortable, earning an early kickable penalty that Davies narrowly missed. With the extra size and weight of the Shooters Hill pack starting to take its toll two lapsed and two missed tackles resulted in Shooters Hill scoring under the posts on both occasions. Davies replied with a further penalty before the break to get Reigate on the score sheet but one or two spectators were starting to fear the worst as the Shooters Hill pack started to get into their stride. James Blashfield, starting to get to grips with his role as captain, had a job on his hands to motivate his troops to respond in the second half.

After the break, Reigate took the initiative, Andy Turner’s decision to dye his hair an interesting gingery blond colour the night before the game meant that his endeavours were easily spotted. A fantastic kick off chase resulted in the ball falling to the "Ann Widdecombe"-lookalike to set up yet another Reigate attack. Having looked down and out at the end of the first half, the boys from Reigate rallied and started to take control of the game settling into their patterns of play. Fred Stuart continued to not only win his own ball but snaffle many throws by the opposition in the line and Mike Jones continued to lead from the front with another impressive performance behind a retreating pack. The last 20 minutes of the game were arguably Reigate’s but as with the previous week, the moves broke down just at the point when they were developing into a promising attack, losing possession or in some instances simply as a result of poor decision making. With this aside Reigate continued to challenge, earning a further penalty converted by Davies and a converted try from some swift back-play in response to a Shooters Hill try under the posts which was rather gifted to them through another defensive lapse. At the final whistle the final score stood at 13 – 28.

Coach Chris Venn was upbeat about his teams performance, ‘Whilst this was a loss, it was a positive afternoon. Shooters Hill are a savvy and tough outfit, considerably heavier up front and play a couple of leagues above us, we have a lot of work to do, but I am very optimistic for the season.’ Man of the match was Barry Ridler for his total commitment and combative game play.

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