Old Mids Defeat Old Wellingtonians

In a rearranged fixture at Ruxley Lane on Saturday Old Midwives consolidated their position in the second of the promotion slots with a convincing victory over Wellingtonians who had defeated them earlier in the season.  Mids are more consistent now and were quickly into their stride with a try after 3 minutes.  Good work from the forwards took them into the home 22 and when the ball was spun wide full back Rhys Millar was on hand to sidestep the tackle and score.  Fly half Dan Crouch converted to put the visitors 7 – 0 ahead.  The same player kicked a penalty 4 minutes later when Mids had combined well to put pressure on Wellingtonians who infringed at the breakdown.

The home side now made good ground and despite stout defence from Midwives they were penalised on their 22 and Wellingtonians kicked the penalty to make it 10-3.  Lock Sam Timms was injured and Mids skipper Matt Higgins who had been sidelined himself since before Christmas took over in the second row.  After a period of well contested exchanges in the middle of the pitch the visiting backs combined well and a clever miss pass put Millar through from half way for an unconverted try in the corner and a lead of 15 – 3 after 20 minutes.
The game now became rather lifeless with defences on top. Wellingtonians broke the stalemate when they found a gap in the Mids defence and when they were halted by some good defence were able to recycle and break through the centre for a try.  The conversion brought them back to 15 – 10 as the whistle blew for half time.

After a scrappy start to the second half Mids exerted some sustained pressure on the home defence who held out somehow but eventually they conceded a penalty in front which Crouch stroked over to make it 18 – 10.  Play continued mainly in the Wellingtonians’ half with both sides looking capable of scoring from broken play.  After 65 minutes the home team were penalised again and Crouch stretched the Mids’ lead to 21 – 10.

The Mids’ pack was now getting on top and when desperate defence on their own line saw Wellingtonians dive over and play the ball on the floor they had a player sent to the sin bin and Crouch punished them with another penalty goal.  The home side had another player carded for a late tackle on Millar and again paid the extra three points to Crouch’s lethal boot.  Mids were now in complete charge at 27 – 10 but did not add to their score because of too many dropped passes and good scramble defence from Wellingtonians.  It was the home side who had the final word when their centre squeezed over for the last try which was converted with a fine kick from the touch line.
Besides try scorer Millar and prolific kicker Crouch Mids had several noteworthy performances with Mark Butterworth carrying the ball well, James Macleod impressive at the breakdown and centre Dave Matthews again conspicuous in the backs.  Andrew Dean made a welcome return from a long period of injury and with a number of sharp breaks showed that he is back in business.  Prop Nick Hamilton was another returning from injury to give Mids more depth in a vital area.

This weekend they make the long journey to take on Sandown and Shanklin in the Isle of Wight in a match which has a strong bearing on promotion.