Wimbledon Demonstrate Strength in Depth with Convincing Win
Rugby result: Wimbledon 38 – 15 Brighton
Hooper runs in from 30 metres to score under the posts. Picture: Wimbledon RFC
Wimbledon took the field against Brighton without a good number of their regular first-teamers, but they continued their winning ways regardless, clearly demonstrating their strength in depth this season. Once again they opened the scoring within minutes of the kick-off after a break by no.10 Henry Peuble resulted in a Wimbledon penalty which, true to form, they kicked for touch rather than goal and drove over from the lineout, prop Nathaniel Opedo touching down. Fullback Freddie Hooper unaccountably missed the simplest of conversions.
Brighton then spent ten minutes in Dons’ half but were unable to break the defence, centres Joe Brosch and Alex Pickersgill in particular tackling anything that moved, as they and all their team-mates did throughout the game. Hooper then made amends for his early miss with a long, searching penalty kick to the corner for a 5m lineout and the forwards did the rest, this time lock Ted Bunn claiming the score.
With flanker Joey Goldsmith making a fine job of throwing-in, the lifters doing just as well for the jumpers and the pack clearly having the edge in the set scrum, it was only a matter of time before they scored try number three, Hooper taking a perfectly timed pass from Pickersgill and galloping 30m to the try line. His conversion took the score to 19-0 which, despite several near misses, remained the score at half time.
The second half opened like the first with Wimbledon mounting waves of attacks, but this time getting turned over by the Brighton back row. The visitor’s possession however lasted only seconds when Dons’ wing Ollie Kitto grabbed a clever interception and trotted over for the bonus point try. Ten minutes later Brighton launched their best attack so far, well finished with a try out wide by their speedy wing Maltby.
Wimbledon came straight back from the re-start with a great run by wing Archie Brosch and two phases later Peuble was able to dive through a gap to score try number five, Hooper’s conversion extending the lead to 31-5. Pickersgill got the sixth ten minutes later after a Joe Brosch break and Hooper’s excellent touchline conversion finished Dons’ scoring for the day. But they then lost their shape a little and Brighton took full advantage with a spirited late rally. First they took a leaf out of Wimbledon’s book and drove over from a 5m lineout. Then their no.10 broke through the middle, spread the ball wide and wingman Maltby ran in his second try and his team’s third.
There was never any doubt though which of the two was the better side, as evidenced by the 38-15 score line. Next week Wimbledon travel to old rivals Sutton & Epsom in search of a similar result. Or even better.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
November 1, 2021