Bristol OC's 18 - 21 London OC's

Saturday, 13 December 2003 was a historic day for the OCs as this date marked the inaugural match between the Bristol OCs v. London OCs.

From the moment the idea was conceived, it was always going to be an epic battle; a war of the titans. Two teams of (once) well-trained players fighting for the coveted 1879 preparatory school kicking competition trophy, kindly supplied by Charles Colqhoun for the occasion. [Editor comment: We expect something akin to the Stanley Cup next time we play.]

Although originally scheduled to be played on big side, the hallowed turf of Clifton College rugby, the previous week's torrential rains proved too much even for management to convince themselves that it would be worthwhile to play there. So it followed, despite protests from most players, that this huge game was to be played on New Field. In any event, having established that the Bristol side were full of university 1st team players, there was some relief amongst the "older/unfit" members of the London team: 0-1 to London.

The shroud of miserable weather did not hold off the crowds of baying fans though. OCs, their friends and families packed the touchline despite the high likelihood of being drenched. Indeed, every player felt honoured that these people turned up and to those we are thankful.

The game started off fast and furious with nothing much between the two teams except for indiscipline from the Bristol side. The London side showed their experience as the captain, Kevin Ho, sought to penalise the new kids on the block by taking as many three pointers as they could. Soon Ben Gelder had kicked the Londoners to a 0-9 lead and things looked bleak for the Bristol OCs.

The Bristol side did not lay down their swords though and after an impressive display of interlinking play between the forwards and backs and exceptional ball retention, Bristol scored their first try. Special mention must go to James "the Rhino" Alvis, the athletic Tom Brown and not so athletic, but nonetheless impressive, Tom Drummond Wilson who started the move and provided excellent support throughout the play. The London team tackled impressively, most notably Neil Carr and George Thornhill, but the Bristol side showed everyone how dangerous they can be. Matt Mann kicked the conversion; 7-9.

From the restart, the London OCs quickly capitalised on the territorial advantage and exploited all opportunities to run wide, having sensed their superiority over the Bristol side lay in the backs. The move began with the forwards driving up the right side through a succession of quick rucks that created the overlap for the backs to exploit. A little lateral running from Huw Maggs (he would contend this was a switch move) and offload to Matt Boardman, steaming through on the short ball, created the space needed for Paul Kellett to "score" his try. Try he did, but score he did not; well, to most people on the pitch except the referee (Mr. Stephen Rees, who we must thank for kindly offering his services and 5 points). Inexplicably the stiff arm rose in unnecessary circumstances and the London team found they had an additional 5 points under their belts. However, although I cannot teach a man how to ref, one lesson I can ably teach here is that history doesn't lie; 7-14. Unfortunately, Ben Gelder proved he was no kicking god/Jonny Wilkinson after all and missed the conversion attempt from the touchline.

The next 20-25 minutes saw the Bristol side dominating. They racked up two penalties, Matt Mann broke his nose (and reset it himself) and they scored a try. A temporary lapse in what was an almighty defensive display by the London back line saw Josh Brown beautifully dance around his man, hot footing it to the touchline. The London side consigned themselves to a score when a hurtling cover tackle from Matt Boardman came to the rescue….sort of. A WWF style tackle fully warranted a penalty from which the Bristol side exploited the poor reorganisation by the London side and saw Kola Sofola literally walk over unopposed. Josh Brown took it upon his shoulders to kick the off-centre conversion attempt and like his mates, Chris Waddle, Stuart Pearce and, more relevant, Gavin Hastings, he missed; 18-14.

In the dying minutes of the game, the London side were trailing and in possession in the middle of the field. Matt Mann saw fit to utilise the full squad of 25 men and rolled subs on and off. However, no-one was more tactfully used than James Alvis. He came on, Bristol won the scrum. He went off, they lost it. Eventually, the London side won one of their scrums and a fluent back row move down the right of the field saw the London team inches from the Bristol line. The Bristol OCs snuffed out the attack through all means possible, legally and illegally. The clock was ticking. London OCs were under pressure to score the try they needed to secure the win. Another attack close to the scrum provided the London side with a chance to spread it wide. As the ball went down the line, Euan Kenworthy rounded his man and missed the clean shirted Mike Pegler to provide Owen Verrier-Jones to score the winning try. Ben Gelder hit another superb kick and so ended the inaugural Bristol OCs vs. London OCs.

However, the day was not over. A great night lay ahead as Charlie Colqhoun kindly arranged for a Big School feast of curry and beer in the crypt for the players and their now adoring masses; Matt Mann arranged for the basement area of Channings and pre-paid tickets to Kickers. Never has an evening been more civilised.

It was unanimously agreed between the London team that Man of the Match was George Thornhill. It was a superb defensive effort all round. It was George's hounding of the back line that led to errors from the Bristol team and excellent tackling/ stealing the ball that gave the London side the precious little possession they needed to win.

Kev

London Team: Ali Turner, Henry Brace, Steve Hartland, Joshua Galaun, Ernest Hanson, George Thornhill, Neil Carr, Ian Jones, Kevin Ho, Ben Gelder, Huw Maggs, Euan Kenworthy, Paul Kellett, Owen Verrier Jones, Matt Boardman. Subs: Jared Greenblatt, Alex Evered, Rory Morrison, Mike Pegler, Seb Hoyle.

Bristol Team: Jason Roberts, Mark Li, James Alvis, Dan Sims, James Shopland, Bruce Elliot, Tom Drummond-Wilson, Tom Brown, Rhodri Williams, Rob Alvis, Matt Mann, Jim Breeze, Tom James, Rich Doble, Pat Chatterton. Subs: Paul James, Nick Offer, Hadley Wilcox, Tom Offer, Josh Brown, Kola Sofola, Rob Yates and others

(Thanks to Rhodri Williams for the photo)