‘If we don’t get on top of them up front, they’ll kill us out wide’, warned club CEO Gary Reynolds pre-match. It’s a threat that London Irish Wild Geese were keen to make clear after Harry Rowland scored in the 4th minute. Ollie Turner picked up the extras to punish Rams for their messy start.

Rams eased up their deficit with Greg Illingworth’s excellent chip-and-try in the left-hand corner in a blind-side attack started by Stapley. Chandler missed the conversion but made amends with a penalty kick a few minutes later following a turnover from Tom Vooght and strong attacks from Steve Bryant and Sam Guttridge.

Wild Geese returned the favour with barrage on Rams’ tryline and a chip over Rams’ defence to provide George Owen with a try in the left-hand corner. Turner completed the tricky conversion for an 8-14 score at the 27-minute mark.

Rams retook the lead and kept it for half time following two tries, both scored by Rossiter and converted by Chandler. The first of these occurred after Rams quickly moved the ball from one wing to the other with Phil Hoy acting as a middle man between Rossiter and the try line; the second resulting from Dan Sanders’ blistering pass to Rossiter on the right wing.

In the midst of this 10-minute non-stop Rams offensive, Wild Geeses’ Rowland was relegated to the sin bin for multiple mishandles whilst at the bottom of rucks. Despite the visitors’ early aggression, they entered the second half a man down and on the sore side of the 22-14 score line.

The outset of the second half had Wild Geese reassert themselves with a penalty from Turner, scored from 40 metres out, and a converted try placed in clubhouse corner by Matt Killeen after a loose Rams’ pass found nothing but the touch line.

The final half-hour saw the scoreboard dominated by Rams. Spike Chandler utilised Dan Barnes’ excellent run to score a try of his own. Captain Robbie Stapley scored soon after with a pick-and-go try, smashing through the Wild Geese defensive line. Chandler converted both of these for a healthy lead in front of an energetic home crowd.

A penalty in the closing moments of the game secured a 39-24 victory for Rams. It's a well-earned 5 points that the team take into the Christmas break.

Rams return on the 7th January for their second seasonal meeting against Henley Hawks.

Report by Matt McCrory
Photo by Tim Pitfield

Redingensians Rams:
15 - Guttridge
14 - Rossiter
13 - Bryant
12 - Barnes
11 - Corrigan
10 - Chandler
9 - Illingworth
1 - Ball
2 - Henderson
3 - Steadman
4 - Hoy
5 - Taylor
6 - Kharbouch
7 - Vooght
8 - Stapley (c)

Replacements:
16 - Crame
17 - Marris
18 - Thompson
19 - Amor
20 - U'Chong

London Irish Wild Geese:
15 - Turner
14 - Killeen
13 - Kitching
12 - Jones
11 - Owen
10 - Hodgkinson (vc)
9 - Grant Adamson
1 - O'Sullivan
2 - Connor
3 - Frahar
4 - Evans
5 - Haggett
6 - Rowland
7 - Bush
8 - Moore (c)

Replacements:
16 - Livett
17 - Bunn
18 - O'Duffy
19 - Barker
20 - McEnri