Old Blues vs Raynes Park

The ground was rock hard down at Raynes Park as we kicked off our league campaign for 2009/10 in resounding style. Having fought two hard games against RP last season, we knew we would have to play hard and fast to come away with a result, and that we did. A strong start saw Old Blues camp in the Raynes Park 22, and sustained pressure saw second row James Collins crash over for the first score. From there on we controlled the bulk of the half, with our scrum performing well and the backs looking dangerous on the hard ground. James Mitra kicked a number of penalties (as well as scoring a terrific try), and Mike Gray at 9 made a couple of searing breaks to give the RP back row an uncomfortable afternoon. However, we knew that Raynes Park would not back down easily and from a quick tap, they worked a move well to run over for their first score just before half-time. This seemed to spur us on in the second half, and we delivered more of the same free-running rugby we showed in the first 40. Having soaked up some pressure in our 22, we then landed a sucker punch with an interception try from No 15 Avron Cunningham. Some more indiscipline from RP allowed us to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but some momentary lapses in defence from the Blues midfield led to two further scores from the home side. The match ended 45-21 and the Blues started the season top of the league.