Wimbledon 1XV 16 v Beckenham 23
Wimbledon took the field against Beckenham for their first game of the season with a hard core of last year’s key players and a sprinkling of promising newcomers.
After a pretty even first half, which produced two well-struck penalties from Dons’ wing Jonny Rawlinson against one from Beckenham and a pushover try from a 5m lineout, the visitors gradually gained the ascendancy throughout the second half.
Their better teamwork began to show and as they sensed victory their commitment level rose too and Dons, pinned in their own half, struggled to get any meaningful possession.
Wimbledon 2XV 3 v Ruislip 34
A tough start to the season, we took to the field with six players who do not normally play for the Dons, this meant that we were unable to run the patterns and brand of rugby that we have been building up in pre-season.
Two early unconverted tries from Ruislip, which both came from our defensive errors and lack of speed to react to the situation in front of us, saw them go in at half time with a 10-0 lead. Sam Watson-Jones pulled us back to within a score shortly after the break.
We held on to the 10-3 score line for the next 20 minutes, before their superior fitness and commitment saw Ruislip run away with it in the end. Plenty to work on at training this week, but hopefully we will have a much more settled team over the coming weeks.
September 10, 2010
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