Rugby Result - Mill Hill 3 Chiswick 24
Against an unambitious Mill Hill team, Chiswick took a little time to settle, although both scrum-half Glen Ambrose and wing Roman Zakrevsky made determined breaks in tight situations.
With the height of Mike Sampson added to that of Mark Williams, Chiswick were a force in the lineouts, and the pack scrimmaged well. When the home pack eventually got within striking distance of the Chiswick line, with efficient mauling, the visitors’ defence was sound, and their confidence grew thereafter.
The genius of Ambrose was then revealed. Receiving the ball from a lineout, he made a lateral run, and then chipped over the defence. Following up hard, he reached the ball first and kicked diagonally away from the fullback, then won the sprint to the line. Keith Luckman made a good conversion.
Eschewing a chance to kick a penalty from the identical spot minutes later, Luckman put the ball in touch for a lineout close to the home line. Sampson took the ball at the front, Ambrose to Luckman, Luckman to Kruger, Kruger out to the looping Luckman, and Simon Slattery was still left with about half a dozen defenders. No problem for the Chiswick ace. This wasn’t touch rugby, and he sailed under the posts to go top of the scorers list. Luckman converted.
Mill Hill were very unlucky not to score a try at the beginning of the second half, when their centre got hamstrung after splitting the Chiswick defence. They did get an easy penalty as a result of the move, however. The visitors’ defence was under pressure for a while, but remained excellent, and with the forwards beginning to get on top, and winning vital ruck ball, it was inevitable that Chiswick should go further in front. A break by Adrian Lewis led to a lineout close to the home line, and another looping run by Luckman led to sub Sam Brown drawing a defender before sending Slattery in for his second. Luckman converted and got a late penalty to complete the scoring.
This was a wholly impressive team performance, and the Chiswick coaches can feel well satisfied. Roll on the official opening of the new clubhouse on the 6th of November.
Chiswick team :- Donaldson ( Johnson ), Nichols, Campbell, Sampson, Williams, Vinden, Maguire, Pritchard, Ambrose, Luckman, Lewis, Kruger, Jones ( Brown ), Zakrevsky ( Green ), Slattery
October 27, 2005
|