Chobham A Festival 15/10/2006

WON FESTIVAL !

Squad - Anderson Alexander, Clark Henry, Deane Myles,
Furrer Nicolas, Gawn James, Harrison Ben, Jones Archie
Nagle Joshua, Seddon Benjamin, Sirker Callum,
Stockham Jack, Viney James

1st game: Teddington 5 – Marlow 0
Teddington began the festival as they meant to continue – with an open, free-flowing rugby style. The watchword for the day was passing prior to the tackle. Teddington enjoyed the majority of the possession and were defensively strong. In the end, the score could have been higher, but for a lack of penetration in the last 20 yards.

2nd game: Teddington 15 – Old Albanians 0
This was Old Albanians first outing at the Chobham festival and, despite putting up a brave performance, were somewhat overwhelmed by Teddington’s attacking defence (which saw them pushed back to their own line time and again). The scoreline reflected a fair return for the pressure exerted.

3rd game: Teddington 0 – Guildford 0
This was the crunch game, with Teddington facing the only team that beat them in last year’s festival. Guildford had played every game with a strong mauling style, which saw them occasionally committing up to six players into the loose at any given time. Unfourtunately, they seemed to tire as the festival progressed (possibly due to the energy expended) and, coming up against Teddington, found that the defensive pressure prevented them from matching the large number of tries they had piled on against some of the other teams. Eventually, a draw was a fair result, as Teddington found it equally diificult to find penetration.

4th game: Teddington 5 – Chobham 0
All to play for, with any one of three teams able to win the festival, depending on the outcome of this game. Chobham had showed similar strength to Guildford in their loose play, so it was particularly pleasing to see Teddington adjust their style of play to match – and ultimately overcome – this threat. Some excellent driving rucks and mauls brought Teddington close to a score but in the end, it was a wonderful piece of defence (tackling Chobham behind their own try line) and a piece of snatched opportunism that brought the try.

On the whole, almost all the teams were very evenly matched but Teddington ran out winners due to a willingness to open up the game, an ability to adapt that style to suit circumstances and, above all, a fierce tackling rate that rocked their opposition back in attack. Our first A silverware of the year and an excellent performance all-round.