Pennant League , 15th Mar 2008

Mansfield 13 - Hamians 10

Hamians 2nds made the journey to Mansfield to take on their 4th team in what was billed as the title decider - arguably the two best sides in the league battling it out for league glory. For all who witnessed it, there can be no denying it lived up to all the hype!!

We lined up as:-
Jon W, Jesus, Parko, Tim, Bambi, Luke, Tommy Vass, Paulie, Coops, Dozer, Pikey Jnr, Craig, Bruce, Gollum and Cluseau. Subs were Bryn, Dom, Nathan and the fat prop

Hamians kicked off and Mansfield attacked straight away. Sloppy tackling let them through and have the better of the opening exchanges but defence where it mattered stopped an early score. Constant pressure from mansfield did bring about a score for them but they could not convert it for the extra points. 5-0
Hamians regrouped and began attacking and although Mansfield had the better of the opening scrummages, hamians were winning lineouts. Tackles were flying in from all members of the team but the ref thought Vass' were a little high and with a flying fist so he received a 10 minute rest. With Gollum, paulie, Cooper and Jon sharing scrum half duties in his absence, Hamians proved that we weren't going to let a lack of numbers stop us fighting back. most of that ten minute period was played in their half so when Tom did come back on the extra number just helped create the break we needed and Bambi found the space needed to cross for the leveller. Craig put the conversion over for a 7-5 lead to hamians
the rest of the first half was fairly even with breaks from both sides and strong defences stopped further tries. However a penalty given away on their 22 enabled craig to slot over 3 points and a 10-5 lead. Half time - advantage Hamians
half time team talk was simple. the job is only half done. twice as much effort was required as we knew mansfield weren't going to lose their 100% record without a fight.
2nd half began with Mansfield firing on all cylinders and if it wasn't for great tackling by several players including the young pikey our lead would have been wiped out immediately. As it was this unrelenting pressure from the mansfield soon created ball for their backs to run in a try in the corner although as the saving tackle was being attempted, the mansfield winger grounded the ball and hit the corner flag at about the same. A slow motion replay would have been interesting! With the failed conversion attempt it left the score at 10-10 with about 25 mins to play. Game on!
to add a few extra pounds to the pack, the fat prop came on for gollum. Bruce switching to hooker.
Hamians upped the workrate in the forwards creating plenty of ball for the backs. Luke had spotted that their backs were rushing forward early so played some lovely chips through for bambi and co to run onto. one kind bounce could have made all the difference. further changes were made in the form of Dom to the backrow in place of craig. Dozer moving to his more familiar second row slot. Bryn also came on for tim in the backs.
it seemed that nothing was going to give from either side as they were both defending very well. this seemed to be getting to mansfield who, as they couldnt beat us by playing better rugby, decided that dirty tactics were the key. As the ball broke from the back of a ruck, Paulie took the ball forward were he was tackled by their fly half. handbags ensued but as they got to their feet a few words were exchanged and they squared up to each other. The next thing we knew, Paulie was on the ground with a bloody nose. out of the 31 people on the pitch only one man failed to see what had happened - the ref. Calls for the video ref were heard but to no avail. he saw nothing so gave nothing except a knock on against us from a few seconds prior!! A straight red card would have made for an interesting last 10 mins.
As it was mansfield were awarded a penalty on our 22 and the kick was made by the player who shouldnt even have been on the pitch. 10-13
As the time ran down, hamians were unrelenting in their pressure and almost snatched the win when we had 3 to 2 overlap on the right wing with bambi, jon and parko. If only the ball had made it to the wing, parko was a cert to score in the corner. Mansfield scrambled clear to record what was felt an undeserved victory by 13-10

I would like to say that every player gave 110% and we certainly did not deserve to be losers.