Over the past two seasons, the Hammers Vets side has quietly been enjoying a resurgence following the creation of a new Vets Middlesex Merit Table. It has led to the return of some big names synonymous with the glory years in the noughties, playing alongside those who saw active service in the 90s. Names such as Clarke, Furniss, Lines, Campbell, Rumble and Hunt are back down as regular names on the team sheet.  As games are played on Friday nights, it means those who are fit and able, but also with weekend family commitments, can sneak a game and a load of beers in with fellow Hammer comrades once a month.

Having come runners up to a strong Ealing team last season, the Vets have started the 2017/18 campaign strongly, winning their first two matches in style against London French and Teddington. Last Friday, it was the turn of Grasshoppers, played under the lights of the vets new home ground, Allianz Park. The stadium now has two teams of galacticos plying their trade on its hallowed north London astro-turf.

Now if truth be told, Kim Jong Rogan was initially assigned the task to attend the match and take some notes on who scored etc and include a bit of a running commentary, primarily based on the fact he wouldn’t have made the side, however as he only arrived with ten minutes left on the clock, details in the following report are lacking. However at half time, the Vets found themselves up 20 points to 8, despite a frantic and poorly controlled start to the game, probably as a result lingering Christmas fatigue, and with Grasshoppers running some strong lines off a decent backrow/halfback combination.

In the second half, Hammers eventually started to take control of proceedings, helped in part by a decent bench, and further aided by Tom Parkinson scoring four tries. This included two where he ran pretty much the length of the pitch, as well as one or two other moments of magic involving much of the back line.

What was even more surprising, almost suspicious, was the fact that Ryan Dilley, who usually averages 2 tries a game, failed to chalk up a single point. Jury is still out on this phenomenon, but one can only assume he’s got tied up in some dodgy Asian betting syndicate and was trying to hinder the Hammers win. The vets ended the game victorious with a 58 – 8 win, particularly pleasing to the young whippersnapper Blyghts, and the squad look forward to the next game and beers at Staines on Friday 9th February.

For his lack of enthusiasm, and failure to score a single point Dilley was awarded Tin Man, whilst MOM went jointly to Parko and the vets very own Benjamin Button, Sly, who both put in a sterling 80 minutes in the centres. An honourable mention must also go to Ed Clark and his colleagues at Saracens for hosting us once again.

Should you want to get involved with the vets, and fancy a run, please email Adam Jones on  adamrjones1511@gmail.com. Not only do the vets have additional league fixtures coming up this season, but plans are afoot for an over 45s game on Old Hams day on 14th April.

League match v Romford ravens 102-0

Yep that is not a mistake, 102-0, biggest ladies Hammersmith score in history, and first time to break 100points! And what an epic score it was. Big kudos to the ravens who never gave up despite playing with 13 players in the end, however, the day was ours. First league match of the new year and we had a game plan knowing how our old rivals play. Plenty of blue ball and stretch the legs.

7 mins in and our first try came from Helene as she pushed over the line 5-0. 2 minutes later Michelle made her first of many long runs around the fringes to make it 10-0. A few minutes later came a trio of tries, another 2 from Michelle (1 converted by Onora) and 1 from Katherine weaving her way through the solid Romford pack. This was followed by an immense run by Alex, back from injury, although sadly couldn’t quite make the line but as she said, she and I are like one and I was on her shoulder to help finish her try, converted by Michelle.

4 more tries followed taking us to half time, one a 50m sprint from Jess (conv Michelle) and a fourth from Michelle. An awesome catch from a restart by Bukky (conv Michelle) who proceeded to sprint the pitch while everyone watched and clapped, and an equally awesome similar sprint down the wing by Annabel to score under the posts.

HALF TIME 58-0

A similar story was to occur in the second half. 3 min in and a break by Ella who offloaded to Katherine made the score 63-0. 2 more tries to Michelle taking her total to 6 and a further conversion by Onora and the score became 75-0 within 10 minutes. Jackie with her first taste of a centre position scored 80-0, quickly followed by one from Ella (conv Onora) and another by Katie. At this point it slowed down a little, but Jackie and Katie ran through for one more a piece, Katie’s’ taking us past the 100 mark.

The ravens pushed us to the end and the last 5 minutes saw us defend like trojans. We could have become complacent, but the hammers spirit did not give in and the match ended 102-0. Full time and a very happy Mark and Frenchie – proud of our efforts in executing the game plan almost perfectly.

A great bench mark score to start 2018 and to show our opposition that we mean business. I hope I got everyone’s scores, you made it very hard this week but thank you to Alison for keeping track on WhatsApp.

Forward of the match went to Carola for her smart runs and carries, and defensive play.

Back of the match went to Jackie, who in her second ever match played for the first time as centre and once realising that she could run through people scored an epic 2 tries.

2 special pints went to Michelle, one for each of her hatricks

Looking to follow on from a solid winning performance against Chiswick the week before Hammers travelled along the Upper Richmond Road to face top of the league Rosslyn Park B’s on their 4G pitch.

Continuing from where they left off the week before, Hammers started the game strongly playing organised and disciplined rugby on the fast surface which Park struggled to deal with. Ed Brown (9) capitalising on the pace of the ball to snipe from the side of the ruck and go over for the first try of the game. Gathering the re-start Hammers worked the ball back, through slick hands and structured play, to see Bob Davies (5) bundle over for his first try for Hammers in the 3 years he has been with the club.

Park responded the way a team that sits top of the league would, putting pressure on the resilient Hammers defence. Keeping them out for over 5 minutes eventually saw Park take a shot a gaols to cut the Hammers lead to 3-12 after twenty minutes. However, this pressure from Park kept up and Park ended up holding onto the ball effectively and scored two tries to take a 20-12 lead at half time.

The second half saw both teams continue the physical and expansive rugby that had been played in the first half as they searched to establish and capitalise on a lead. Park looked though as they had done enough to win when they lead by 23 points with 20 minutes left to go, however a well taken try from Shaun Curtis (13) and two scores from inform winger Leon (11) – one of which came from Ryan Kenny (6) turning the ball over on Hammers own 5 metre line and quick hands from Bertie (8) releasing Leon sprint clear from half-way – saw Park’s lead cut to 8 points with 12 minutes to go. Try as they might Hammers could not create the opportunities that they structure play deserved and Park kicked a penalty and held on to win the game by 11 points, 40-29.

A well-played game by both sides, but Hammers realise that accurate retention of the ball is crucial in this league to winning and couldn’t help but feel that they could have gotten more out of the game and look forward to taking on Belsize Park in two weeks’ time.

Tries:

Ed Brown

Bob Davies

Shaun Curtis

Leon Joseph x2

Conversions:

Harris x2

Man of The Match: Leon Joseph

Tin-Man: Seb Money – Leon scored hat-trick, touch judge Seb ruled his foot was on the line as he grounded the ball

It was a strong Hammers 3^rd that took to Fortress Hurlingham against local rivals Chiswick on a frosty 6^th January. Benefiting from a near full compliment of players returning after the festive break, it was a confident captain Steve Harris (15) led the boys in a warm-up characterised by the typical positivity and a forgiving demeanour from Andrew Rogan (3) directed at the highly skilled but low-functioning Billy-f*£king-Rylance (6).

After a delayed kick-off, the boys received the kick-off from a Chiswick only to find themselves quickly on the defensive.  What followed was  sustained period of pressure that lasted for approximately 15 minutes but was characterised by excellent line-speed defence and bone-crunching tackles.  The second row pairing of Thomas Broadway and Tim Lawson was especially physically, backed up by a beefier George O’hara (2), who put his xmas-added muscle to good use by not taking a back foot against the direct running of the powerful Chiswick forwards.  Nevertheless, after a fluid passage of play that saw Chiswick stretch the Hammers defense, they eventually scored out wide in a well deserved try, opening the scoring at 5-0.  Game on.

The boys quickly bounced back.  A short line out in the Hammers 30m mark was ably called, caught and passed by Tim Lawson, who passed to Dave Buchanan (9) in what would prove the start of a man-of-the-match performance at 9. Dave fed Jack Davies (10) who found the waiting hands of Mark Johnson (8).  A swift sidestep found a hole, and after big meters he offloaded to Rylance who ran it further, before finding the waiting hands of Taylor (13).  Taylor then ran it if from approximately 35 meters out, beating defenders to score in the corner.  Hammers back in the game.

Two quick tries followed.  Direct running by Josh Myers (12) up the guts from our own half created opportunities out wide that were exploited by Jack Davies to score near the posts.  Minutes later a powerful rolling maul followed, grinding its way to the line before Cillian Bane (11) – in what was the first of a brace of tries – somehow got the ball and scored under the posts.  3-tries-to-1 up.

At this point the typical Hammers ‘forget-what-got-you-there’ period began.  A series of penalties saw Chiswick fight their way back in the Hammers corner for a line out they won, before they spun it to the mid-field and poor tackling allowed them to score near the posts.  Shortly after, a uncharacteristic miss-kick for touch was caught on the Chiswick 10 meter line by their 15 who had wheels.  He then proceeded to carve up the field and take advantage of Hammers dog-leg defence.  3 tries a piece, with only the Hammers more accurate goal kicking keeping them ahead by 4.

Despite these setbacks, the boys emerged from the half confident that their skills and fitness would see them out.  What followed was a brilliant mix of running Rugby and a score board that regulatory ticked over.  Line-outs led to mauls, and powered by the legs of Simon Khalil tries were scored.  Front foot ball led to gaps out wide, exploited by Sol Lucas (14), and Cillian Waldron (13, replacement).  Whilst Chiswick did score again, to get within 5 points, the last 20 minutes saw a brace of tries take the final score out to 48-26.  Full time!

In a season where the wins have been hard to come by at times, such a commanding performance bodes well for the second half of the season. Here’s to next week!

After a big loss the previous week, Hammers turned up at a cold and wet Hurlingham Park knowing that a win was much needed before heading into Christmas. With a good warm-up completed, the boys took to the field to the familiar cries of ‘Our House’ from a certain Old Ham, Matt Kelly, back from Australia for the Christmas break.

Starting strongly is something Hammers teams traditionally don’t do very well, and sure enough Hammers found themselves under pressure straight away from some strong running from a big Grasshoppers pack. This strong carrying up front meant Hammers were under pressure in their own half, and with any kicks being returned at pace by a quick Grasshoppers back three it was not long before they opened the scoring in the corner. One try quickly became two and Hammers found themselves 10-0 after the first 15 minutes.

A response was needed, and that was exactly what we got with the Hammers forwards starting to come into their own. Strong carrying from Tony Rees, James Watson and front row duo of JP and Si Khalil won Hammers a penalty and the ball was duly dispatched to the corner. Tom Broadway proceeded to win the line-out, as he did brilliantly all day, and from there the maul was set. From on the 22, the Hammers forwards proceeded to roll all the way over the line with Matt Kelly gleefully touching down at the back for a score that the forwards will remember for a long long time!

Following the restart, Hammers won another penalty in midfield, and the ball was once again fired towards the corner. The maul wasn’t quite so efficient this time, but Hammers were camped on the Grasshoppers 5 metre line. Si Khalil went close only to be held up, but when the ref blew for another penalty, Watson tapped quickly and piled over bringing the scores level.

Halftime: 10-10

Following halftime, Hammers again came out of the blocks slowly, allowing Grasshoppers to register the first points of the second half with another try bringing the scores to 15-10.

Hammers then managed to get some good field position and were deep into the Grasshoppers 22. From a strong scrum, a loose ball was gathered by Matt Baddeley who crashed over only to be held up. However, on the back of another dominant scrum from the Hammers pack, hooker Rees collected the ball and went over under the posts, this time converted by Chris Jager and Hammers had gone into a 17-15 lead.

From then, Hammers felt they had the momentum and really had to make it count. A big defensive shift led to Grasshoppers getting pegged back and then finding themselves in their own 22 looked to run it out. Joey Grahame read what was happening brilliantly giving himself the simplest of passes to pick off and race away for the simplest of tries, celebrating like he’d just scored the winner in the World Cup Final!

Grasshoppers looked deflated by conceding such a try, and then straight from the restart Watson broke numerous tackles and somehow sprinted from his own 22 only to be tackled just short of the Grasshoppers line! It was a brilliant run, and he managed to pop the ball up to Jager to touch down and give Hammers a 31-15 lead, but plenty more stick was to come Watsons way post match for not managing to make it himself!

Bonus point secured for Hammers, but the game was by no means secure just yet. Grasshoppers bounced back well from the setback of conceding three tries and enjoying some rare second half time in the Hammers 22, some strong pick and go’s from their forward pack ensured they got over the whitewash again leaving an 11 point deficit with 10 minutes to play. 31-20.

Hammers didn’t let this affect them and some strong phase play in midfield led them into the Grasshoppers 22. While trying to spread the ball wide quickly, there was a late hit on Baddeley which meant a penalty right in front of the posts. Jager duly kicked the three points on offer and that was to be that, with Hammers running out 34-20 winners, and heading into Christmas with a very important bonus point win.

Man of the match was James Watson for his try, strong carrying, and brilliant run to set up Jagers try, while tin man was Si Khalil for being held up twice!