Redingensians 91 v 24 Sutton & Epsom RFC

Greek mythology is the collective body of myths and legends that concerns the ancient gods and
heroes, the nature of their world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and practices.
In many ways, what we are creating at Redingensians draws parallels to the exploits of Zeus, his
fellow deities on Mount Olympus as well as the Titans & Gigantes of ancient Greece. Our purpose as
custodians of these boys; is to create a squad so rich in the embodiment of the game of Rugby, that
scholars 3,000+ years from now will still be debating the subtleties of Crocker’s cone layouts,
Perry’s line-out calls and their hidden meaning to modern man!
With solid progress made the previous week against Esher RFC, the boys faced another stiff test
against one of Surrey’s larger Clubs and one of the oldest, active Rugby Clubs in England. The
assembled parents, grand-parents, siblings and club dignitaries at Shire Hall’s pitches were not to
be disappointed in the glorious, autumn sunshine as Redingensians U13’s put on two of their finest
displays over recent years.
‘A’ Team
Referee: John Murtagh – Sutton & Epsom RFC
Starting line-up
15 Yannick ‘Aphrodite‘ Marriott 8 Bryn ‘Orion’ Boden
14 Ryan ‘Poseidon‘ Spong 7 Guy ‘Apollo’ Rawsthorn
13 Alex ‘Eros‘ Canham 6 Thomas ‘Ponos’ Strasburger
12 Will ‘Hermes‘ Adams 5 Aiden ‘Perses’ Hood
11 Liam ‘Perseus‘ Cook 4 Jack ‘Erebos’ Knobben
10 Thomas ‘Ares‘ George 3 Conor ‘Sabaktes’ Boyd
9 Alex ‘Zeus‘ Crocker 2 Charlie ‘Empusa’ Perry
1 Jason ‘Hades’ McGillivray
The game kicked-off with Ensians playing down the slope and taking the game to their larger
opponents. With the mobile front row of McGillivray, Perry and Boyd sealing the ball, scrum-half
Crocker was able to get his back-line working. An early break from Canham at outside-centre ripped
open Sutton & Epsom's defence and put Ensians 5-0 to the good. Marriott was unlucky not to get
the extra points. From the restart, Hood confidently gathered the ball and made good headway in
carrying the ball into contact. Some excellent play took the ball towards the opponent’s line.
Fine control of the ball saw it pass through the hands of Rawsthorn, Canham and Knobben, before
Boyd took possession and was unstoppable from two yards out - sending Kerry into a touchline jig
for the third time in career as a ‘MAG’.
A stunning (repeat - STUNNING) conversion by Marriott put Ensians 12-0 to the good. Sutton
started to take the game to our boys and a great piece of forward play by our opponents saw them
gain a try back following our second rows being repeatedly pinged for going over the top in the ruck.
A missed conversion kept the score at 12-5. This seemed to spur the team on and an excellent run
forward by the returning Boden at No. 8 saw him held up. From the resulting ruck, slow, but
effective, ball came across the backline for Cook to run in Ensians third try. Marriott was unlucky
not to convert and at halftime Ensians were 17-5 to the good. Playing up the hill in the second-half,
the match continued where it left off - with Ensians taking the game to Sutton & Epsom. The boys
were outstanding at the breakdown and second-rows, Knobben & Hood, and Flankers, Strasburger &
Rawsthorn, were in complete control of this critical element of play. Another free-flowing move
from second-phase ball saw Rawsthorn float a stunning pass to Cook. The left wing gratefully took
possession, flicked the afterburners and ran in Ensians fourth of the match. Marriott was again
unlucky not to gain the extra points from another well struck kick. With the score at 22-5 and the
tails up, Ensians were on rampant form. Adams was having a stormer of a game at inside centre,
both winning and using the ball well. In a missed-pass move originated by Adams, the ball came to
Cook inside his own half. The winger took off and successfully demonstrated the art of the handoff
to Sutton & Epsom's defence on three occasions and finished the move of the day with aplomb.
George was unlucky not to covert (note to Cook - try a bit harder to finish the move a bit better
next time please!). The game became a bit scrappy for a while with the forwards doing well to grind
out possession.

With Crocker and George in complete control behind the forwards, Boden took possession and his
brute strength saw the ball home under the posts. Marriott again took the extra points to make the
score 34-5. In the final minutes of the match, further possession by the forwards provided the
opportunity for the ball to get wide again. George made another instinctive break as fly-half,
capping an excellent match for him, and a neat switch call from Cook saw him come in off his line
and get his fourth of the day to finish the match at 39-5.
Final score Redingensians ‘A’ 39 v 5 Sutton & Epsom ‘A’
‘B’ Team
Referee: Paul Clark – Redingensians RFC
Starting line-up
15 Richard ‘Uranus’ Catlin 8 Charlie ‘Thanatos’ Steele
14 Damon ‘Coeus’ Gambrell 7 Aaron ‘Pallas’ Stewart
13 Daniel ‘Talos’ Barber 6 Michael ‘Menoitios’ Hutterli
12 Barnaby ‘Prometheus’ Coles 5 Like ‘Dionysus’ Godward
11 Samuel ‘Charon’ Burnhope 4 Ross ‘Lelantos’ Green
10 Reece ‘Hyperion’ Mowlem 3 Aaron ‘Tartarus’ Bailey
9 Max ‘Atlas’ Clark 2 Ben ‘Cronus’ House
1 Jason ‘Epimetheus’ Temple
The increasingly progressive Ensians ‘B’ team immediately took the game to Sutton & Epsom in the
early exchanges. The forwards in particular were making their presence felt against a large
opposing pack at the breakdown, with props Temple and Bailey competing for the ball superbly well.
In an early move, Coles took possession via an interception and ran in a beautiful solo try under the
posts to put Ensians deservedly 5-0 up. Clark took the extra points in off the post. With barely
seconds from the restart, Ensians were to snatch another try after a shuddering tackle by Green
broke down Sutton & Epsom possession.
Barber took the ball at pace to run in his first of the day – again under the posts. Clark once again
took the extra points to put Ensians 14-0 up. This seemed to spur Sutton & Epsom on and they
started to take control of the game. Catlin made a brave tackle on their big prop-forward, followed
by an equally resilient one by Gambrell. The opposition were starting to take the game to Ensians
and our defence was holding up well. Green was having a fine match both in attack and defence and
he is clearly someone who can develop further in the game. A mazy run by this quick, utility player
saw him breach Sutton & Epsom’s defence for the third try of the match – again under the posts
for Clark to convert with ease. From the restart, fine forward work by Godward, Hutterli, Stewart
and Steele provided a great platform for the backline to move the ball. A great steal by Stewart
saw the ball come to fly-half Mowlem, who to the encouragement of his finely dressed parents,
peeled back his ears and set off for the try-line to score – yes you got it – under the posts!
Another conversion by Clark put the score to 28-0. Further possession, this time from the line-out,
saw Hutterli gather and put the ball through a number of hands for Centre, Coles, to get his second
of the game. Clark narrowly missed the extra points from a difficult angle. McGillivray was having
another fine game in the front row and was making excellent yards with the ball, using the hand-off
to good effect. Bailey was also making a nuisance of himself in the loose and came out of one
encounter to pop the pass to the oncoming Barber. ‘Floppy’ set off down the line and was excellently
supported by Burnhope but managed to beat his men and ground for Clark to get his fifth
conversion – 40-0. Steele was having a fine game at No. 8 and made a real claim for the jersey on a
regular basis. Sutton & Epsom made a number of changes at this point and shored up their pack with
some familiar faces. Our Referee (Clark) and Touch-judge (McGillivray) took the opportunity to
take a breather from keeping up with play and managed to indulge in a bit of good-natured banter
with the enthralled spectators. Sutton’s strengthened team took hold of the game and scored three
tries and two conversions in quick succession to make the score 40-19. Coles and Barber managed to
answer this fleeting recovery by running in another try apiece with Clark converting one of them.
The final whistle went to a memorable performance from out ‘B’ team and to cap off a remarkable
eighty minutes of action for Ensians.
Final score Redingensians ‘B’ 52 v 19 Sutton & Epsom ‘A’
Scorers:
Tries: Cook (4), Coles (3), Barber (3) Canham (1), Boyd (1) Boden (1), Green (1), Mowlem (1)
Conversions Clark (6), Marriott (2)
Reflections:
Sunday for me was one of those days where everything seemed to 'click' into place. Whilst a lot of
it is down to fortune - such as the weather; a great deal is down to the progress the boys are
making and the quality of work that goes on behind the scenes. I think we should also be extremely
grateful to our opposition who travelled around 60 miles on a Sunday morning to get here in time to
warm-up for a 10:00am fixture. I should also remark that John Murtagh, their referee, put in one
of the best performances I have seen at our level of Rugby - particularly his interpretation of the
offside. On the pitch, I thought that the mobility of our forwards in the 'A' team was outstanding;
repeatedly sealing the ball and serving it up to Crocker and his back line on a plate. In the 'B'
fixture my sense was that the all-round tackling was some of the best we have witnessed to-date.
Sutton & Epsom were a big group of lads and players like Ross Green - particularly, Damon Gambrell,
Reece Mowlem and Richard Catlin all stood out in this area. I also thought that the forwards
generally worked well in this area with the front row supporting the ball carrier effectively and
James Temple having one of his finest games for Ensians. Whilst this was very much a squad
performance on Sunday, I would particularly like to mention two players in each side who didn't get
recognised at the 'drink-off' but are worthy of recognition. Ryan Spong has been a wonderful
example of what is great about our Club. He thoroughly deserved his starting position on the Wing
for the 'A' team on Sunday having developed his all round game over the last season or so. He's a
great lad with the right attitude at training and someone who has greatly grown in confidence over
the last year. The other player in that team that I would like to play tribute to this week is Guy
Rawsthorn. Guy has found a position as Flanker that compliments his attributes perfectly. He's
fast, combative, and reads the game extremely well. His ability to win us ball at the breakdown is
exemplary and his pass out to Liam for our fifth try was truly exceptional. In the 'B' team, I would
highlight Daniel Barber as someone who has also developed significantly over the last season. A
natural runner, his handling and ability to deal with what's in front of him is a pleasure to watch.
There are some areas for him still to grow but these will come in due course for a player who can
defend as well as attack from the back-line. The final player I would like to mention today is Max
Clark. Max is someone who, when confident in his game, is more than capable of holding his own. It
was fantastic to see him increase in stature and boss the game with Reece as his half-back partner.
I would encourage Max to really believe in his abilities to 'boss' the game and get sharper and
sharper at getting the ball in play. Finally, I would also like to pay tribute to the coaches and
support staff of our age-group for the first-class job they are doing. It's a huge commitment to do
what they do each week and we appear to be starting to find our rhythm in Junior Rugby. The
coaches need all of our support to provide the right environment for Rugby and give the boys a
compelling reason to keep coming back each week. Drawing a final parallel from ancient Greece; we
know that there is place for everyone in our version of 'Mount Olympus', but it has to more
enduring than the original. The Greek gods finally destroyed all that was good about their world due
to hubris and self-interest. The Old Bath Road may not be ancient Greece and the Breakfast Club
are not yet ordering Ambrosia as part of their Full English; but from what we had the pleasure of
witnessing on Sunday, we have every reason to believe that the team environment we are building
can be sustainable and that the environment is the right one.
Graeme Cook