Saturday was a highly emotional day for the club, following the news of the passing of Mike Kelly, a former M&C President and player. Flowers were laid next to the match ball ahead of the game, M&C players wore armbands to pay their respects and a minute silence was observed ahead of kickoff.
The previous match against Old Paulines was possibly the strongest performance from M&C 1XVs all season and there was a lot of anticipation around the reverse fixture. Their previous win may have given OPs a sense of complacency and it was M&C who drew the first blood in the opening ten minutes - OPs looking a bit sluggish both offensively and defensively. Quick thinking from the backs gave Captain Corey Griffiths space to dive in the corner. This seemed to be the slap that OPs needed to spark back to life. The next ten minutes was dominated by the away side who managed to score two consecutive tries against M&C, the first from a very well taken driving maul from a lineout and another from an excellent backs play. Heads didn't drop for a second however and M&C bounced back. A line out on OPs 5m line was won well and fast hands saw Paul Whittall touch the ball down for Mitcham's second of the day, levelling the score at 12-12. Before the half however, OPs were back in front following a nicely taken try in the corner. Only 19-12, the game was very much in the balance at the half.
Following a positive team talk, the game resumed very much in the same spirit as the first half, with plenty of fast paced positive rugby on both sides. Mitcham equalised again, through second row Fergus Garnade but then fell behind. It was then Winger JohnJoe Dolan found super-sub Second Row Kevin Penter in space in the corner, who dove over the line with possibly his first touch of the ball! 24-24 all and the game was on a knife edge.
Around the hour mark, it was clear which side trained twice a week and as fatigue started setting in with M&C, Old Paulies kept coming with the same intensity. Following a blocked box kick in M&Cs 10m and sebsequent try, OPs were back ahead and it began to seem that the upset was going to become that bit harder. The comeback was finally killed off in around 70s mins with Old Paulines scoring their sixth try - the winger finding space in the far corner to sneak the final points of the game. Plenty of positives to find from the performance, Old Paulines knew they were in for a fight from the off, the line outs and scrums were solid, however the fitter and quicker team were the victors in a fantastic game, with plenty of action and ten tries shared.
Following the game, a beer was raised to Mike Kelly. We didn't get the result, but the passion, heart and commitment was there in abundance.
Next week, the 1XV travel to Woking to the return fixture and the 2XV welcome Streatham & Croydon at Dewsbury Cottage.
#WeRise
Tries: C.Griffiths, P.Whittall, K. Penter, F Garnade
Conversions: C.Griffiths (2/4)
MOTM: Chris Gilbert - From zero to hero, a very strong performance this week and his powerful running was a constant thorn for OPs
DOTD: I.Honeyman-Baker - For being late two weeks in a row.
