Riverside Rout

Rugby Result; Chiswick vets/3 68 London Irish vets/3 15

In a long-standing fixture, taking centre stage after Rochford had cried off from the scheduled Intermediate Cup match, Chiswick, with a plethora of old stars to call on were far too strong for a London Irish team under- strength on an Internationals day.

With Keith Luckman or Charlie Phillips running the show from fly half, the combined power of Marc Jones and Ben Cheston in the backs, let alone Lewis Hammond, Adrian McKay and Tom Lovell in support was far too much for the Irish. The men in green had a lot of match cunning, but generally ran out of support at crucial moments, allowing the marauding Chiswick backs a sufficient glimpse of an opening to exploit.

Tries came from Frank Cassali, immediately removed to the touchline by an enthusiastic, albeit accidental blow from Simon Slattery, eager to get stuck in, and then in no particular order from Joe Barker, John McGrannahan, Marc Jones ( several ), McKay, Lovell and Cheston ( at least ) with Frank Smal slotting at least the first four conversion attempts, one from the touchline.

Captain Gavin Nichols had got together a great squad, and it is to be hoped that the Irish, who had the consolation of scoring the last ( and probably the best ) try, can be persuaded to seek revenge, as the rugby was of a high standard, and enjoyable to watch.

November 10, 2014