OPs win against Woodford

The OPs travelled to Woodford on Saturday, the newcomers looked to have settled into London 1N comfortably since their promotion last season. Other than that they would be keen to run the ball, little else was known about the Essex side and an OP side with a few injury enforced changes produced a good away performance to earn a second win of the season.

The OPs started well, dominating territory and possession with a good control of the ball. The pressure led to penalties which further helped the cause and soon the OPs took the points with Captain James Booth giving the home side a 3-0 lead. This was backed up with further pressure, with Charlie Stringer and Conor Dolan linking up well for the in-form centre to cross the try line. James Booth's conversion made it 10-0 after 12 minutes.

The OPs carried on looking strong before the first big momentum shift occurred about half way through the first half. Suddenly the home side were exerting plenty of pressure on the OPs, keeping the ball alive and tapping quick penalties to stretch the OP defence. After a period of pressure, they too opted for points and a score of 10-3. The OPs were going through a minor wobble, now unable to grasp control back and soon found themselves back in their 22 with Woodford tapping more penalties and the OPs were rocking. It look like they might survive but once turned over the OPs overplayed on their try line and gifted the ball back again. Soon a double tackle in the right corner led to a yellow card for Chris East with the referee deeming his tackle to have been slightly high. After a few more minutes of solid defence, Woodford eventually crossed and levelled the scores at 10-10 going in to half time.

The away side felt confident that they could wrestle back control with some better game management and, having looked very dangerous early on, knew that some time with the ball would produce points. Within 5 minutes, the OPs ran a well worked backs move that saw James Booth burst through the line. He was able to link up with Conor Dolan again who out-ran the chasing defenders to score from 25m out. The OPs almost let Woodford back in from the kick off but were able to eventually get back towards half way. The ball was worked wide to Chris East who was tackled near the touchline. As Conor Dolan went toward the ruck he was wiped out off the ball for a penalty advantage but East hadn't been held so he was quickly back to his feet and racing away from the covering defender for a very good individual score. This was just four minutes after the previous try and gave OPs a quick double to stretch the lead to 22-10.

Again, the momentum swung back to the home side. There came a long period where the OPs were unable to get a decision from the referee with some silly penalties given away by the away side and one or two questionable forward passes that halted momentum and enabled Woodford to dominate territory and possession. Soon Woodford scored, after approx 55mins to .get themselves back to 22-17. A back and forth game was becoming a tense affair with tempers rising slightly on both sides. Fortunately it was only 2mins or so after conceding that another James Booth penalty put the score out to 25-17 which would force Woodford to keep chasing. They were happy to take on that challenge and some poor decisions by the OPs gave the home side ball in space which they were happy to run at. With 12 minutes left, Woodford scored again to take it to 24-25 which was going to lead to a tense finish. The next few minutes were back and forth before Woodford got dominance in a scrum leading to a penalty about 35m from the posts and to the left. The opposition 10, who had been kicking very well, struck it nicely but it drifted just out to the right which meant the OPs maintained their lead, just. They responded excellently, however. Some good carries in the OP half took the side to their own 10m line. Somewhat scrappy ball made its way out to Jono Moore who went forward into space before throwing a basketball pass over incoming defenders to Ozegovic who drew a defender and released Aristide Goualin up the left touchline. He scored up the line but Oz's excellent support play inside meant that as the defenders were tempted into Ari, he was able to offload inside back to Ozegovic who raced in from 30m and too powerful for the attempted tackle. It guaranteed the win, and another Booth conversion took the game to 32-24. Woodford were determined to fight back but the OPs caught the kick off well and kept the ball tight for the remaining two minutes before kicking it off the pitch for the final whistle.

A huge mention must go to Alex Ozegovic, this year's captain, as he returned to play for the first time since injury in March. An injury to Morgan Lumby after 25-30mins meant for a longer shift than expected but he was superb and all were delighted to see him score the winning try. It was a game that saw momentum come and go for both sides, a closely fought affair but the OPs will be pleased for the away win with injury changes prior to the game, injuries in game and moments of real pressure all taken in stride for a good win.

Damien Langley Award: Alex Ozegovic
Joe Codrington Award: Conor Dolan