Chobham 1st XV vs Old Haberdashers 1st XV

On what seemed like the hottest day of the year, Old Habs turned up at Chobham RFC, except for Dickie Johnson who went to Cobham RFC. We were met on arrival by 1 very passionate Chobam ultra, clearly excited for the game. It was another squad full of new faces, with 7 debutants on show for Habs, looking to follow on from a strong win last week.

Early pressure saw Habs pushed back in our own 22, but strong D-sets meant Chobam were struggling to find a way through. A penalty in front of the posts saw Chobham elect to go for for points. 3-0. Habs started finding their way into the game after an overthrown lineout led to Dell breaking out to their 22. Solid set piece from the forwards saw Demi go over in the corner for a debut pie. Conversion taken well, 3-7. The game started opening up with the Chobham hooker galloping through, only to pull his hammy 10m short. A silly Habs high tackle led to another penalty. 6-7 after 20mins. A big scrum following the restart saw Connor find a hole at the 10m line, beating 3 defenders and run in under the sticks. Conversion good, 6-14. As the half was closing out, a Chobam offside gave Habs a penalty. Mulllaney puts us in the corner, and a well-executed maul saw Gould touch down. Conversion good, 6-21. A lapse in concentration resulted in a late Chobam try seeing Habs go into HT leading 11-21.

The second half got under way and some tiredness was starting to show. Lack of discipline ran the penalty count up marching Chobham up the field into our red zone. Another penalty for playing the 9, saw Connor sent to bin leaving Habs down to 14. Chobham elect to scrum and began driving at the try line with a series of pick and goes. Habs defended well but they eventually went over. Conversion missed, 16-21. Habs struggled to find the feet, and lack of ball retention kept us the back foot. Chobham continued to threaten and went in for another try under the posts, taking the lead for the first time since early in the 1st half, 23-21. Another high tackle added to the penalty count, with Chobham taking the points and extending the lead 26-21 going into the water break. One score in it. With 20 mins to play, Habs restarted with some energy and found themselves with a scrum up by the 22. Great work from the front row marched them back winning the penalty. The kick for touch stayed in play, and Chobham returned. They worked their way up the field, but some resilient D with Parry munching their props kept them at bay. They found a hole and dove over knocking it on in the process. The goal line drop out gave them back the ball, putting us back under pressure. A silly penalty put the win out of reach with Chobham taking then points, 29-21. There was still much to play for and deep into last play, both teams were searching for bonus points. A string of penalties sent both teams up and down the field. Habs found themselves up near the 22 and knock in the tackle ended play. Final score 29-21.

A lot of positives to be taken from the game, especially with all the new faces putting in excellent performances. On to Aylesbury next week.