Imperials conceded this fixture due to having insufficient players. As per MMT regulations Imperials requested a "Game On" friendly fixture to ensure that some rugby was played. Ealing were awarded a victory and a 28 - 3 result.

We lost the battle, but won the war, which was a very good first win for the 3’s.

London Imperials conceded the game at the start, as they could not field a full squad, no front row and they turned up with 10 players.  We therefore played 10 v 10 and agreed to 3 x 20 minute blocks, but their players were all clearly 7’s / 10’s players and as there were uncontested scrums from the start, they ran….

The 3’s handling was far better and there were some really very good passages of play, which the Imperials just could not live with, however, they were able to find more space and were able to run in tries from a distance.

Adrian Coa (13) stood out and saved a number of scores from his chases and tackles, causing them all manner of problems and it was great to see the Coa family, Luis (11), Adrian and Brayan (16) all on the pitch at the same time.

1871 tries came within minutes of each block starting and in the first came after 7 minutes when Dawid Czop (5) went over after the ball was recycled quickly during open play.  Ash Spencer (3) took a good hard carry, there was a quick ruck and the ball went out wide, stretching their D and into the hands of Dan Nethercote (14), who held his width well and then stepped inside the defender struggling to get across the pitch.  A really lovely score and Alex Gillespie (10) nicely slotted the extra points.

The second 1871 try came in after 2 minutes in the second block, where Dawid Czop went over.  1871 won a lineout penalty, recycled the ball quickly from the first breakdown, then the same again stretching their D as they tried to work around the corner, then Dawid took a hard line crash ball, hitting weak shoulders as he went through.  No conversion this time, but although by this point Imperials had previously scored 3 tries and converted one, this score kept 1871 in the game.  Unfortunately by the end of this block Imperials scored three more tries and converted two of them, realistically taking the game away from 1871.

Despite the scoreline and the injuries mounting on both sides, everyone soldiered on and within one minute of the start of the last block Connor Wareham (15) went over to score.  This came from a lot of scrambled play from both sides, around the half-way mark, before Brayan Coa recovered some loose ball and carried hard through players, offloading to Adrian Coa, who took it on, before he offloaded to Connor, who still had ground to cover and beat the approaching defenders.

Once again though Imperials scored three tries, but this time could not convert them.

A spirited effort from 1871 3^rd XV who made a good account of themselves against the eventual 13 players for London Imperials.  One was injured very early on and two drifted in for the second and third block.

Special thanks go to Joe Dickinson, who now has a broken arm, just below the shoulder, Will Allen and Oscar Rogers, all from UWL, who bolstered the 1871 3^rd XV side.

No doubt, there will be a return fixture…

The campaign continues…

David Brathwaite