Old Blues vs Streatham and Croydon

The Old Blues hosted fellow Surrey 3 contenders Streatham & Croydon at Motspur Park on Saturday and recorded a comprehensive win despite the poor conditions. A dark, blustery and rainy day meant that it was unlikely that we would see any champagne but, to their credit, both teams were clearly trying to play the ball whenever possible and stop their backlines from freezing to death. The game kicked off at a fairly hectic pace with some tough early exchanges and both teams clearly up for it. The Old Blues struck first with a penalty kick about 10 mins in. After that, the Blues started playing with increasing focus and discipline, taking advantage of the solid platform provided by a pack that was starting to enjoy increasing dominance at the set piece. A well worked try touched down by Charlie Hunt at the posts extended the Blues lead. The pressure was maintained with some good phase play and excellent pressure in defence allowing the Blues to touch down twice more courtesy of Kobby and Rob Huckin, as well as a further 3 points from a penalty kick. Half time score was 23-0 to the Blues. You would think that the game was sewn up at this stage and that the Blues would be able to take their foot off the gas, but it really didn’t feel like that out on the pitch and the S&C boys have to be commended on the way they continued to play the ball, constantly looking to punch through the Blues defence. However, the Blues managed to hold firm despite the pounding they took and the second half saw three more tries by the home side courtesy of Kobby, Ralph and Woon. As the heavens well and truly opened up, the final whistle went with the score-line reading 40-0 to the Old Blues. A thoroughly satisfying performance and a great result against a tough outfit and in miserable conditions which saw the HdM tankard go to Steve Hogg for a typically rampaging performance in the midfield.