Mustangs vs East Grinstead 1st XV – 22nd November 2008

Lost 32-0

A Mustangs XV which was missing a couple of regulars and contained a handful of players nursing sore heads from the previous evenings endeavours at Waca Day’s 21st birthday bash headed off to Sussex in order to take on East Grinstead’s 1st XV, who are currently 6th in London & South East Division 4. This was always going to be a tough encounter for the Mustangs, but one with which the team were more than capable of coping, based on recent performances.

However, on the day, the team didn’t really click for a number of reasons. In the early exchanges the team had more than their fair share of ball and in hindsight should have scored at least one try with the opportunities they created. Gary Whitehead, who made a great break from inside his own half instigated the first of these. Unfortunately some wrong options were taken which slowed down the attack, though possession was retained until the moment when the ball needed to be spread wide and the ball was knocked on.

In a similar occurrence, Sam Rogers made a great beak on the outside of the defence before straightening up and continuing up-field. However, poor execution killed the attack as once again when the ball was spread wide.

The crucial moments of the game ensued within a mad 5 minute period, when inexplicably the Mustangs forgot how to tackle and allowed the home side to score 3 quick tries, two of which were converted. Although some poor tackling was to blame, credit must go to the home side who showed how valuable it is to be able to off-load the ball out of the tackle situation, something they did well all game.

So along with the three tries to add to an earlier penalty, the Mustangs headed into half time 22-0 down. The scrums had also gone uncontested following the withdrawal from the field of Jim Walker, who had a twinge in his back.

The 2nd half began and all the territory and the majority of the possession was with the Mustangs, who mainly kept the ball in the forwards. However, a lack of imagination and perhaps impact meant they were unable to penetrate through a well organised East Grinstead defence.

Once again, having absorbed all the Mustangs pressure, East Grinstead capitalised on Mustangs errors and promptly went up the other end and scored. Another try followed soon after to make the score 32-0 to the home team. However, the Mustangs did not give up and continued to press forward. A surging run by Nick Coles eventually saw Andy Cairns given the ball on the left wing who looked certain to score, however and excellent cover tackle by the home fly-half put Andy into touch.

The game finished 32-0 to East Grinstead, who deserved the win. The Mustangs did under-perform although it was frustrating not to score, as the team certainly had more than enough territory and possession throughout the game. One massive lesson that the players can learn is to take chances when they come along, as against good teams the chances are appear less frequently. East Grinstead took most of the opportunities that came their way.

However, on a positive note, it must be remembered that the Mustangs were playing a 1st team only two leagues below our own 1st team, and by no means did the Mustangs embarrass themselves.

There was one more piece of news that overshadowed the game, in that Gary Whitehead unfortunately dislocated his shoulder once again and is unlikely to play again this season. The Mustangs management went on a bit of journey around Sussex to find the hospital where Gary had been taken. Having assumed he was at East Grinstead hospital, it was discovered this wasn’t the case and with a couple of phone calls and a lot of hanging about, his location was revealed as being in Haywards Heath. It has recently come to light that the Mustangs coach was informed where Gary was to be taken immediately after Gary was taken to hospital from the ground.

This was also Luke Day’s last game for a while as he heads off to the Southern Hemisphere to do a bit of travelling around Southern Asia and Australia. Have a good one Luke and see you in February.

Next week the Mustangs are back to league action as they face a very tough away trip to 2nd place Gravesend.

Team:-

Walker, Vickers, Thurgood, Wainhouse, Simpson, Rogers, Day, Court, McPherson, Whitehead, Cairns, Hipkins, M Graves, Dyke, McClintock, Lamb, Sargent, Hill, N Coles

Coach – S Neaves

Manager – L Waters