The scene was set on a glorious afternoon on Fortress Battersea. The infantry and cavalry had assembled and the atmosphere was one of cohesion, anticipation and determination. Determination to unsettle table-topping Chipstead and build on the encouraging performance against Mitcham the week before.
Led by Frapps, the squad built up a quick sweat with some beautifully synchronized warm-up exercises that only he could have orchestrated before splitting up into the forwards and backs and running through some pre-game moves.
The preparation was not in vain as Media came out all guns blazing. From the kick off, Chipstead found themselves running into a brick wall. Bone-crunching hits by the returning John Parker and Alli ‘locked jaw’ Maclean on their 12 and 13 after a few minutes effectively disarmed their midfield for the rest of the day as they didn’t seem to want to catch the ball after that. In fairness, it’s not easy with your seat-belt firmly back on and your insides still shaking.
The first quarter saw the hosts controlling the ball both with solid scrums, thanks to the omni-present and omni-potent Mike and Windows and the lineouts with sound jumping from Sam and the impressive new-boy Nick off some pin-point throwing from the President. With this in mind, the opposition jumped at two early opportunities to convert two fairly generous penalties. Their full-back, who was arguably their best player converted the harder of the two chances before receiving a pass from their open-side and ghosting around the midfield, through the back 3 and straight under the posts. 0-10 with media hardly putting a foot wrong.
In seasons past, the Occies may have crumbled at this stage but heads were held high in the confidence that media could ride this storm with controlled, aggressive rugby. The next 15 were spent camped in Chipstead’s 22 as the impressive James Williams, Benny and debutant Kevin launched countless attack from the base of the ruck. Chipstead held firm with some great tackling of their own but were lucky not to have a player yellow carded for desperately trying to kill the ball a few yards out from the line. Media, in the spirit of the game, chose not to go for points but rather go for the maximum. The tactic turned against us as Chipstead turned the ball over and bravely decided to run the ball from their own line. The tactic caught us unaware and our sleepiness led to another break away try under the posts. 0-17.
The half almost ended with a breakaway try of our own as I intercepted a sloppy pass from their prop and tried to set Shane off around their confused full-back. But it was not to be as a gaggle of skimpily clad hockey girls that happened to be stretching off only a few yards away seemed to catch both our eyes. Red-eyes maybe for not being able to finish a 2 on 1 chance.
Half time 0-17. Amazingly given our territorial and possessional advantage.
The second half saw the introduction of Tom Reed in replacement of the injured Sam Parker, who perhaps in secret was saving his energy for his big birthday bash later that evening. The enforced substitution worked well as Tom caught a few high balls and drove past the gain line to set up good ball for the influential Tom Lindley at scrum-half who had a commanding game.
The game next went through a sloppy phase where neither team took control. Some good defensive cover tackles by Nick Stopford and Shane saved our blues as their backs started to enjoy some over-laps. In fact, the next try was to come from one such over-lap when they made good use of a gross oversight of a knock-on from their clumsy 12, still scared of John Parker, before their wing finished in the corner. 0-22 with 25 minutes to play.
It was from this moment on that media started to convert their chances and the opposition faded on account of how hard they had worked for their fortuitous lead.
Frapps shimmied and bounced off a few tacklers to score under the posts after some good build up play from the forwards. 7-22.
On came Andy Cannon for his second debut for the club on the left wing, Hos at outside centre and Marvin ‘the hustler’ Peckham on the other wing to try and squeeze more points out of a withering Chipstead. The fresh legs in the backs and the constant threat of the locks and back row from set-pieces and free-kicks started to open up gaps in Chipstead’s defense. A quick and incisive switch of play from Tom Lindley who had bravely played the second half with a knee injury gave me a chance to pop a pass to the wide-eyed Windows to touch down from a few yards out. 12-22 with 9 minutes to go.
From the kick off, media kept their cool and played for the corners and possession. They controlled the game and had one or two chances to score with some inventive back moves. But it was not to be as the curtains were drawn and the ref blew the final whistle to end a thrilling encounter.
Man of the Match – Frapps