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Edd Conway reviews the 2019/20 season

Edd Conway reviews the 2019/20 season

James Sarek6 Nov 2020 - 14:11
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Former head coach reflects on the curtailed 2019/20 London 1 North League

It is my genuine belief that relegation was the best thing for the club

The curtailed 2019 - 2020 London 1 North league ended in March, with Old Priorian being relegateed to London 2 North West. Whilst the end of last season seems like a lifetime ago, former Head Coach and Director of Rugby, Edd Conway, has taken the time to offer his thoughts on how it all went :

"The 2019-20 season, or what we had of it, proved to be a tough experience that ultimately led to OPRFC being relegated from Level 6 courtesy of the Coronavirus algorithm. In truth, whilst we still had a chance to survive mathematically, the algorithm confirmed the more likely of events.

There were many reasons that combined to make 2019-20 a tough league for us to compete in, despite having spent six years at that level. The quality of teams had continued to rise and this tested a stretched OPRFC squad when considering injuries, availability, long away journeys to highly-resourced clubs and a particularly poor season of weather than certainly didn't make life easier for a team with our strengths. That said, undoubtedly there were some results that could have gone the other way with only a small amount more luck or precision.

We finished the season with five wins, doubles over Woodford and Ruislip and an away win at Amersham. The Woodford games were both evenly-matched affairs where we demonstrated the individual quality and skill to get the wins. The away game featured a late winning try by Captain Alex Ozegovic followed by some tense minutes seeing out the clock, whilst the home game (under lights at Grasshoppers) saw James Booth score the Maximuscle Try of the Month as well as an injury time score for Guy Djedje. The victory at Amersham was also memorable as Preo took the boys into horrific December weather to scrap to an eventually comfortable victory with a class try from Chris East and excellent game management by Charlie Stringer.

When Coronavirus hit in March, it was all rather confusing and unclear for a while before the season was called off and final positions were worked out. It is my genuine belief that relegation was the best thing for the club. Level 7 has less fixtures that are far closer to home. This should help with our availability and injuries in a huge way, allowing us to get more 2nd XV games played and have greater consistency in selection for both sides. In turn, this will help to build an even more positive atmosphere that can take the club forward towards the proposed league restructure, whenever that eventually comes in.

With the end of the season, so too came the end of my time as Director of Rugby and Head Coach for OPRFC. Upon accepting a new role in a school, I knew that my time would be limited ; however, I also believe that a change was important for all parties having been at the club for four years. It hasn't always been easy but I am fortunate to have coached many of my close friends whilst also making many more along the way.

Highlights on the pitch include some stunning performances with wins over Eton Manor, North Walsham and Colchester in 2017-18. That season we achieved our highest ever points total at Level 6 though, ever the coach, I feel we could have done even better! The 2018-19 season was different, needing a far grittier approach to grind out a lot of very close wins. Five wins were within a try, whilst five losses were also within a try which is testament to how tight that season was. In that respect, it could have been both significantly better and significantly worse!

Meanwhile, off the pitch has provided just as many awesome moments. Stand out among these are the first ever international tour to Montpellier, the annual Club Dinners and of course, the Richmond-based "Ou est la taureaux?" in 2019.

I was fortunate to be surrounded by so many outstanding people off the pitch. Alex Pereira-Inacio, Ben Horan, Martin Borthwick and Sean Corcoran had to constantly deal with my late night questions, queries and requests to fund training or matches under lights. The efforts of Arthur Ellis, Rhys Lawrence, Simon Jukes, Adam Preocanin and especially Myles Stringer on the coaching staff remain hugely appreciated and it made the role even more fun to be able to spend time with them. Dai Langdon, Lorenzo Forghieri, James Kwok and Andriana Tsiantoula certainly had their work cut out for them keeping the players taped, fit, rehabbed and confident.

I learnt a huge amount during my time at the club and I certainly consider myself fortunate to have been given the chance. Whilst it is impossible to expect anywhere near perfection, I'd at least like to think that the players enjoyed it, felt valued and had a positive experience so that the club is hopefully in a strong position to move forward."

Thank you to Edd not only for taking the time to look back on the season, but for his years of service as Head Coach and Director of Rugby. Hopefully we'll see on the touchline at Perivale in the future.



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