Careless Chiswick Beaten In Middlesex Cup Final

Rugby Result : Chiswick 29 Civil Service (1863) 53

A competent and confident Civil Service team ultimately gained a comfortable victory in this re-run of last season’s Middlesex Cup final in front of a crowd of nearly 200 supporters at Riverside Lands. For the first half of the match things were pretty even, but as the home team kept failing to win their own lineouts, the visitors ( from just over the railway line ) gained in confidence and exploited their advantage in possession. Chiswick, as always, played with great passion and commitment, but found it hard to make progress against a well-organised defence. Initial home pressure did, however, secure them an early lead, with Simon Hallett slotting a good penalty goal. Civil Service came straight back when their hooker wove his way over the line for an unconverted try.

Chiswick were back ahead after ten minutes, when Gabs Lowe gave Hallett a chance to run down the left touchline after a typical spinning run by Tom Steer, and the Chiswick fly half proved too strong for the defence. His successful conversion kick put Chiswick five points up. Within four minutes the visitors were level when some slick handling along the backs from a scrum in the home 22 exposed a weakness in the home defence, leading to an unconverted try. Chiswick came back with a great maul after Jon Joyce had secured a rare lineout ball, taking them to within a few yards of the line before Chiswick gained a penalty. As has happened far too often, however, a good kick to the corner was wasted when Civil Service easily took the throw-in.

Thrills and spills aplenty followed as the play sped from end-to-end, with a try-saving tackle coming in from Tom Steer, and an isolated Civil Service full back just getting a touchkick in in time when hounded by a counter-attacking Lowe. A period of Civil Service pressure tested the home defence, but it was a clearance kick that failed to find touch which proved its undoing, the visitors’ full back running back at speed, supported by their wing, and getting a good pass in to the ubiquitous hooker, who scored under the posts. Two points were quickly added. Chiswick now had a period of pressure, and after four minutes they were level, with a pile of forwards cascading over the line, and Phil Gray, in his latest incarnation as a lock forward, emerging with the ball for Hallett to add the points.

Another four minutes and the visitors were five points ahead as a counter-attack from a hopeful long kick led to an unconverted try down the right wing, with Chiswick’s defence looking unusually porous. Chiswick had a chance to cut the lead on the stroke of half-time, after a dodgy tackle which reduced Civil Service to fourteen players via a yellow card, but Hallett’s kick just failed.

Chiswick made a disastrous start to the second half as Civil Service took control, with their scrum half proving particularly elusive, and an early try was followed by a soul-destroying cameo. Chiswick had fought successfully for the ball on their 22, but a wind-assisted pass back by Joyce managed to by-pass Dan Godfrey, who made three unsuccessful attempts to gain possession as the ball kept wriggling away from him, before the ball rolled over the line towards a Civil Service player, who happily touched it down. The probably embarrassed kicker failed from in front of the posts. Chiswick came back strongly, only for a multi-phase move to end with Joyce dropping the ball after a great run down the right touch-line. An even passage of play followed, interrupted for some time by a nasty ankle injury to a Civil Service player, who was attended to promptly by the Ambulance crew close at hand.

The home forwards were scrummaging and mauling well all the time, and a sustained period of pressure involving Sam Leslie-Miller, Simon Allen-Clarke and Matt Newman gave the backs a chance to run within the Civil Service 22. Gabs Lowe used the threat of a pass inside to run straight at a defender, and then proceeded to cart him over the line, rotate and touch down for an ecstatically-received try. Moments later, the visitors struck back, with their scrum half selling some great dummies on his way to the try line, and the conversion following. Their next try had an element of luck – the Chiswick forwards had done well to steal the ball during a Civil Service maul, but were right on their goal line at the time. With only a short in-goal area, there was little room for manoeuvre, and the attempted clearance kick was charged down, and fell neatly for the visitors’ No.12 to touch down. This try was duly converted.

Civil Service got one more converted try against a tiring defence, but Chiswick had the last word as Gabs Lowe, having moved to scrum half, spotted a gap when the play came to a halt in the Civil Service 22, and ran in a simple try, which he converted with a drop kick, Sevens style.

Sadly this was Adrian Hoile’s last match in charge – the club has benefitted enormously from his involvement over the past seven years, at all levels, ( the stats are amazingly impressive ) and, of course, we all have some idea now what it takes to stay in the higher echelons of club rugby. We wish him all the best for the future. Thanks a million, Hoiley.

Chiswick team:- McDonough, Dibble, Newman, Gray, Allen-Clarke, Joyce, Biss, Leslie-Miller, Hitchcock, Hallett, Purkiss, Godfrey, Burrows, Steer, Lowe; Cooper, Chraplewczyk, Middleton, Bryan, East, Hill, Touilza.

May 9, 2017