Old Freemen's 2nd XV Reports 2007 - 2008 Season
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29th Dec 07 - Old Hamptonians XV 0 Old Freemen's Flair XV 26 (Friendly)
by Roger Seymour
Freemen’s ‘Flair’ XV skipper Jon Bird had to twist a few arms to get players to leave the comfort of the sales and blow away some cobwebs playing in a rugby match that, despite the sunshine, coincided with sub-zero temperature and a gale, but it proved worthwhile with a 26-0 victory for a side that was predominantly second XV - based.
A sizeable presence of hardy touchline stalwarts made the long-forgotten trip to former regular opponents Old Hamptonians, currently playing in the dizzy heights of London Division NW4, against whom Beechy had secured the only available fixture on the exchange against a “Club XV”. And an entertaining and, despite the scoreline, an even contest was produced by both sides eager to run around to keep warm!
It was definitely a game of two distinct halves. The first half saw rampant Freemen’s with the wind at their backs run-in four spectacular tries from all angles and distances to lead 26-0 at half time. Hamptonians then threw the kitchen sink at the Freemen’s tryline in the second half but the defence was rock solid! They did not cross and the second –half was a rare 0-0 draw!
Many sights to behold and memorable moments, including:
- Jon Reece turning-up all over the place to recycle the ball alongside the foraging Birdy and Parkin,
- Rob Tyrrell storming in from 40 metres to score the first try after starting one of several moves in his own half with the attentive Malcolm Beech at his side for a bit of 7’s practice en route,
- Richard Turk adding a well-worked try to a fine individual display, linking well with the power-packed Andy Catling,
- Reyno Norval creating havoc at scrum-half, mixing sniping runs with some fabulous passes to the ever-present play-maker Jem Davies, who slotted three out of four conversions,
- John Hess showing the proverbial clean pair of heels (was Pat Jenkins chasing him?!) not once but twice within five minutes from his own 22 to score a brace of tries,
- Birdy annoying (but so nicely) officials and opposition,
- Nick Hutt’s assured competence and counter-attacking from full-back,
- Real steel and grunt from the front-row of Lee Walstow, Gary Mills and Steve Acton, that was continued when Taymor Tabbah and Colin Cooper came on as forwards replacements,
- The Wilson brothers, Paul and Jon, hunting for work everywhere around the park, and Jamie Reece making some effective plays in the second half,
- Gary Mills steaming upfield ball in hand before unleashing step-son Bradley Marchant on the wing on one of several penetrating breaks,
- The referee giving us a penalty in the second half!!!
- Matt Bennion tackling anything in a yellow, black and white shirt that came near him in the second half.
- The final whistle and a quick march to a lovely warm clubhouse!
A rewarding afternoon for those that made the effort! Well done to Birdy’s Flair XV! Happy New Year to you all!!
Old Freemen’s: Hutt, Wilson J (Bennion), Turk (Jamie Reece), Catling, Hess (Marchant), Davies J, Norval, Walstow, Mills, Acton S (Tabbah), Beech (Wilson P), Tyrrell, Bird (capt), Parkin, Jon Reece (Cooper).
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1st Dec 07 - Old Freemen's 2nd 41 Reigate 2nd 0 (Merit)
by Michael Barrett
The 1st of December saw the arrival of Reigate 2nd XV for the penultimate merit table game of 2007. Old Freemens 2nd XV have put themselves in a great position to finish 2007 unbeaten in the merit table after an emphatic 41-0 win over Reigate. With only game remaining on December 15th against the only other unbeaten team in the Surrey Conference 3, Cranleigh.
Old Frees started very positively and Reigate looked stunned by the pace and power in the early exchanges. It wasn’t long before Chas March took an offload and powered home for the first try. This was followed up quickly by the first of two tries for Marcus Bolton as once again a back row player found himself on the shoulder of runner and took the offload to score.
Chas March got his second try of the afternoon after good hands saw Malcolm Beech break through and offload to March who again crashed over. The fourth try saw the disturbingly experience yet promising Jem Davies noticing the lack of a forward runner and came at pace to take a pop from Mike Barrett. Davies flew through the tackle to score.
The fifth try was Bolton’s second as he appeared at a ruck about a metre off the Reigate line and picked to go over from short range. By this point the game was already effectively over and Reigate looked unable to cope with the pace Freemens were playing at.
The sixth try of the game was just before half time as Barrett broke off the back of a scrum drew the winger and put Warren-Evans away who once again is on a merit table score sheet. At halftime the score stood at 34-0.
To Reigate’s credit they performed much better in the second half and Old Frees were only able to score one more try, but what a try it was. After 15 years of rugby Mark Mitchell scored his first ever try which rounded off a great win. The other big achievement of the day was Freemens being able to keep the score at zero. The defence was very solid apart from when John Hess was bounced from a tackle but thankfully there was cover to make the tackle and one can only assume it was the day’s hero Mark Mitchell.
Mitchell, Mitchell was heard ringing round the changing room and clubhouse after the game and it will require similar heroics when we face Cranleigh. This week Old Frees host Old Paulines 2nd XV in a friendly.
Team: Adams, Georgiou, Mitchell, Crane, Beech (Hurford), Bolton, John Reece, March, Barrett, Davies, Warren-Evans, Turk, Reynolds, Hess (Burns)
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10th Nov 07 - Old Freemen's 2nd 44 Merton 2nd 3 (Merit)
by Michael Barrett
Old Freemens 2nd XV continued their excellent merit table form with another important win against Merton at Ashtead Park. While the final score was 44-3 it does not indicate the difficult first half that Old Frees encountered. With Merton arriving late Old Frees had plenty of time to warm up and prepare but maybe it would appear we had too much time.
Merton came out much the stronger side and showed no signs of coming out cold. Old Frees were lucky to grab an early 7-0 lead as Rhys Warren-Evans pounced on a loose ball in the Merton backline and showed his usual good pace to run it under the posts. Penalties were exchanged in the first half and it left the score-line 10-3 at half-time.
The emphasis at half-time was very much on finding a more controlled game as when we had given the backline space they had looked very threatening. Ultimately the turning point of the game was when one of the Merton players was sin binned and Old Frees were awarded a penalty five metres from the line. Nicos Charalambous crashed over for an important try.
The conversion was not made but shortly after Jem Davies slotted a penalty making the score 18-3. The significance of a three score lead allowed Old Frees to open the game even more and our impact substitute Richard Butterfield showed no signs of an ankle problem and broke a few tackles to crash over for a third try.
Butterfield set up the fourth as well as he created a two on one on halfway and put Mike Barrett away who showed good pace to score under the posts. Shortly after this more Old Frees pressure resulted in points as Richard Turk cut a great line to put Rob Reynolds in the corner. The sixth and final try was more good hands by Old Frees with Davies, James Reece and Warren Evans linking up to allow Tom Haywood to show his good pace and finish off a good afternoon in style.
A second half performance to be very proud of and another good win. Old Frees 2nd XV have a break from Merit Table action when they travel to Old Pelhamians for a friendly.
Team: Georgiou, Tabbah, Charalambous, Gummer (Jennings), Beeson, Bolton (Hurford), Jon Reece (capt), Crane (Butterfield), Barrett, Davies, Owens (Reynolds), James Reece, Turk, Warren-Evans, Loughnan (T. Haywood)
6th Oct 07 - Old Freemen's 14 Old Wandsworthians 19 (Friendly)
by Spike Hobbs
OFRFC entered this game with a mix of players who weren’t in Jersey or otherwise engaged with the world cup. A fun, free-flowing game was hoped for but due to poor control from the players and a lack of understanding of the officiating the match turned into a dour contest punctuated by two tries of individual glory.
The early kick-off gave some players a chance to watch the school 1st & 2nd XV take on the might of Hampton, both sides impressing the old boys with their commitment, cohesion and enthusiasm. Due to a lack of coaching and playing time together the old boys team failed to match them in any of these areas.
The opposition scored first but Old Frees knew they could be a match for Wandsworthians if they just kept the ball out of contact and reduced silly errors and penalties. OF’s break came rather fortuitously however: the OW’s scrum-half consistently took an age to pick up the ball and pass it to his 10, this was noted by Alex Moodie who was up in the fly-half’s face very early and managed to intercept his inside pass on our own 10m line. He then outgunned their back line and rounded Tom Haywood (playing for the oppo) to go in under the posts. The try was converted. 10 minutes later Tom Fair scored a virtuoso try, taking an inside pass from Davies, stepping 2 men and barging through Haywood (again!) to score. Again, try converted.
Freemens should have then stepped up a gear and not allowed OW’s back into it but unfortunately through more scrappy play and general inability to string together the phases we let them back in the game. They scored two close range tries and even though OF fought hard to get back into the game, we lost.
England then warmed our hearts and souls by defeating the Australians. Sometimes, if you want it enough, you can put a performance together worthy of your shirt.
Team: Walstow, Moodie, Mitchell, Dean Smith, Fair, Bolton, Gummer, Daniels, Barrett, Davies, Ormrod, Hobbs, Bambrick, Warren-Evans, McKee
Subs: Brent, Dom Smith, T Haywood
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