OPs beat Diss

Following the week off, the OPs headed to Diss with somewhat of a makeshift squad. With injuries mounting (Tiffin, March, Clarke, Delargy, Wellings J) and plenty unavailable (Djedje, Ridley, Moore, McIntosh, Wellings, Wilkie D, Axon etc) it meant the OPs could only name two subs. As a result, some of the OPs less regular and 2s players had a chance to shine with Machado and Woods coming into the Front Row with Maddalena and Charlie Stringer playing their first 1st XV games of the season.

Diss started well, looking great in their bright pink shirts, with a remarkably open first half played at quite some pace. The home side were first on the score board, having made a break up the right touchline and putting the OPs under pressure they eventually secured a penalty which was kicked by their full-back Chris Beaird. The OPs were forced to shuffle, with Andrew Wilkie coming on earlier than anticipated for George Majstorovic who injured his hamstring inside the opening minutes. The open nature of the game was always going to suit the OPs and the first try was a real gem. Strong carries from Dolan and Ozegovic put OPs onto the front foot approaching the Diss 22m, when Jack Dever put in a wonderful cross kick for Aristide Goualin to take one handed before touching down for a superb score. The conversion was missed, 3-5.

Diss came back hard, with members of their hard working pack starting to make positive carries. Eventually a lineout drive was scored by John Laurie and a difficult conversion by Beaird gave the home side a 10-5 lead after roughly twenty minutes. The OPs were creating enough quick ball that it was clear they would carve some chances, and Jack Dever scored the OPs second try. An excellent step found a weak shoulder as he made a clear line break and, one on one with the full back, he decided to chip over the top which he collected to score under the posts. Soon enough the OPs added to their lead, a well executed driving maul was dotted down by David Howe. With the confidence up, OPs were looking extremely dangerous with their skill set causing the home side significant issues. The bonus point try was secured when Conor Dolan's excellent play led to Aristide Goualin scoring his second try, this time under the posts for a 10-24 lead. The OPs had to deal with yet another injury, sub Andrew Wilkie bending his thumb back and also havign to leave the pitch in considerable pain, leading to a personnel reshuffle and the OPs only two subs used inside 30mins. With half time approaching, Diss' young fly half dragged his team back into the game with an outstanding score. The OP spacing in defence wasn't quite right and the fly half spotted a gap and raced 65m for a solo try, taking the teams into half-time at 17-24.

With a Diss yellow card occurring just before half time, the OPs knew they had to start the second half quickly and make the most of the advantage to quell the Diss comeback. Riding out some pressure, the OPs managed to turnover the ball and an intelligent box kick by Charlie Stringer bounced awkwardly for the Diss winger, eventually landing in the hands of Aristide Goualin who raced in for his hat-trick try. The OPs had some moments of real excitement with some excellent off-loads and interplay in broken field. Rowan Halsall was, as ever, causing the opposition plenty of issues and his work was eventually rewarded as he crossed the try line and the OPs took a 36-17 lead as the game increasingly ran away from the home side. The OPs mounted more pressure with the Diss scramble defence doing well to keep the away side out, however Jack Dever pulled a rabbit from the hat again and put in a second superb cross-field/kick-pass for Cian McBride to score in the corner and extend the lead further to 43-17 with twenty minutes remaining.

OP hooker Mark Machado was next on the injury list, having to come off the field with 18mins left and forcing the away side to play with 14 players for the remainder of the game. The game became slightly disjointed but credit to Diss who refused to give up and with ten minutes left they scored two tries in quick succession to give the hint of a comeback. As it was, the OPs managed the game fairly well with Dever and Stringer executing some good tactical kicks before one final penalty extended the final score to 46-29.

The OPs did well to combat their normal squad challenges, the journey and a combative Diss side to play some really good rugby at times. Both sides played with width and ambition, helped by a reminder that Spring may soon be on its way as firmer ground gave both sides the chance to play. Credit to Diss for maintaining a great atmosphere among the squad despite enduring a tough season, and with their youngsters gaining valuable experience it should set them up well for the future. The OPs moved on to 64 points, just three shy of their total for last season which was the most ever attained by the club in London 1. Three games remain to try and top that, with big-spending Rochford visiting Perivale next Saturday in our final home game of the season.

Damo Langley Award Winner: Alex Ozegovic
Joe Codrington Award Winner: Aristide Goualin