It was the calm before the storm, with 80mph winds supposedly to come the following day, as Wimbledon hosted Battersea. The wind was picking up however and managed to deter at least 4 Battersea players as they only turned up with 11. Consequently, Alex Paul, Rory Merz and Joe Woodward were selected to play for Battersea and took the job seriously with grateful thanks from both Battersea and Wimbledon.
With this being done, we saw the beginning of the game.
The wind was a major issue from the first whistle and throughout, with multiple handling errors coming from Wimbledon at the start. However things began to settle with good carries from Toby Russell and Alex Browning. Battersea recovered the ball though, and kicked from deep in their 22. Aaron Charles caught well in the conditions, and made a good run, taking some Battersea players with him. For the first 10 minutes the game was played inside the Battersea 22, and with this amount of pressure coming from the Wimbledon pack, Max was able to recover a fumble and go over to score the first try of the game. With Archie making the conversion, it brought the score to 7-0. The restart saw the ball kicked deep in Wimbledon territory and required a punt from Max, which, some would argue that he was assisted by the wind, was hit from our own 10 metre line, to the Battersea 10 metre line! The scrummaging was the most consistent aspect of the game, and Wimbledon managed to win the scrums against the head as well. A turnover at the scrum saw Cameron make a break down the blind side to score, making it 12-0. Archie was unable to convert however as the wind pushed it just wide.
Again from the restart the ball was kept predominantly inside Battersea territory, with great tackles and rucking by Matt Rogers saw the ball shipped out to the right, where Archie had joined the attacking line, creating an overlap and allowing Chris Robinson to score, making it 17-0 going in to half time.
With the wind against the Dons, this did not impede the attempts at kicking the ball out of danger, as demonstrated by great punts from Cameron and Max respectively. Although, Wimbledon were under constant pressure from Battersea throughout the game, albeit from Joe Woodward, who is usually in Wimbledon colours. The second half was played in both halves however, with Battersea showing signs of an attacking nature.Battersea gained a lineout on the Dons 5 yard line, although, the ball was stolen in the consistent lineout and pressure was relieved by a combination of moves from Sam and Archie. However Battersea were back at the Wimbledon try line, and this time they were able to spread the ball and score their first try of the day. 22-5.
The wind was most definitely in Battersea's favour, as they were back in the Dons half thanks to another deep kick, however a try saving tackle by Alex Browning saw the reverse of pressure and possession. Then a series of runs by Connor Coleman and Cyril, who were only stopped by blades of grass tripping them up, ( word from the Wimbledon coach is ...time for new boots !) or we could have seen another Wimbledon score. Battersea finished strongly though, requiring Archie to make a traditional textbook tackle to end the game and Ellis was unlucky not to score.
Overall, a sound win for the U18 Dons' team, however a note to be taken from this game, Hail Mary passes should be left to the American Football athletes, not Rugby players!