Amersham - 15
Old Patesians – 16
Referee: Chris Newton
Old Patesians endured a very uncomfortable afternoon but just about scraped an away win against Amersham and Chiltern in National League Three South West.
This was the first time the clubs had ever played each other and on a dry, bright day in leafy Berkshire their Weedon Lane pitch looked lush and perfect for good rugby but heavy overnight rain had saturated the surface and within minutes from the kick-off conditions underfoot were nothing less than a glutinous morass of cloying mud.
With key players returning from injury Pats were more or less up to full strength and without reservation fully expected a good bonus point win against a side who were just above the relegation zone and with only two wins under their belt in the current campaign but Amersham had other ideas.
For the first thirty minutes Pats dominated the play with almost non-stop possession and total territorial advantage.
The Pats forwards were immense with guaranteed ball on their own scrum feed and occasionally pinching one off the head on the Amersham put-in. Their line-out game operated like clockwork with second row forwards Nathan Riley and Rob Fidler magisterial in taking exquisitely timed two handed catches giving scrum half Matt Mudway bags of time to release his enthusiastic three-quarters.
Now came the big test for Pats as Amersham’s poor defensive record was turned upside down as they snuffed out every thrust from Pats with almost demonic energy. Even the Pats heavy ball carriers James Pettigrew and Lotti Molitika were rocked back when they launched their trademark muscular surges from the base of the scrum or mauls.
Amersham leaked penalties as they scrambled and stifled the Pats attacks but in their thinking it was better to be pinged for being offside, killing the ball or handling in the ruck than allowing Pats to run in tries and it proved to be the correct game plan.
Pats winger James Butler hoofed over two penalty goals and then added to his tally with a third penalty when the Amersham openside wing forward Wayne Wilson was ordered to the sin bin as the scapegoat for the team offence of being persistently offside.
As the half drew to a close the Amersham centre Ross Bugden landed a penalty kick and despite Pats completely bossing the first half they only led by 9 points to 3 points at the break.
After the interval Pats got off to an encouraging start with fly half Matt dean, for once, making a searching touch find after Riley had poached an Amersham line-out and the home team were clamped on their own goal line.
Pats messed up a five metre attacking scrum when they fumbled as they crossed the line but they had a second bite of the cherry and this time Pettigrew made no mistake as the maul rumbled over the whitewash. Butler made a superb touchline conversion and Pats seemed to be cruising with a healthy 13 point lead.
The Amersham scrum half Dwayne Polataivao was a canny little character, as tough as teak, and until now had tried to take on too much himself. He now decided to unleash his backs and they responded with some style and began to find gaps in the midfield and create overlaps on the flanks. Pats line-speed was good enough to close down the Amersham runners but their timing of the tackles was well below their normal high standard.
Pats forwards continued to win ball in the set piece confrontations but thereafter their game was a mess. Accidental offside was the order of the day with players seemingly unaware of where the ball or their mates were and back row moves lacked support at the breakdown.
Amersham took advantage of Pats confusion and the impressive Bugden danced through several would be tackles for a try he converted himself.
Prop Rhys Cadogan rounded off a juggernaut forwards drive for a try in the left hand corner.
With ten minutes remaining Pats held a slender one point lead and they hardly deserved that. Their chasers had given up attempts to challenge for restart kicks that, in any case, lacked height or length and rendered any chance of recovering possession almost impossible.
Pats buckled under the constant barrage but were so lucky that Bugden choked on the possibility of an improbable victory by hooking wide two simple penalty goal chances in the last minute.
Pats had played their “get out of jail” card to clock up an ugly win but they must shuffle the deck in certain crucial positions to make any meaningful progress in this tough league.
Man of the Match - Stu Taylor
By Bob Ellis
