The Met lost their 100% successful record for the season following a frustrating defeat at Old Georgians. To give the hosts their due, Georgians did a remarkable job to stave off a magnificent Police tight eight and use a clever kicking game to secure a narrow victory that left the Met with a losing bonus point.
The glorious late Summer afternoon kicked off with a plethora of penalties around the contact area but, fortunately for the visitors, the Old Georgians stand-off had apparently put his boots on the wrong feet. Sadly for the Met, it was to be corrected for the second half.
It took almost a quarter of the game for the Met to come to terms with both their opponents and the refereeing, by which time Georgians had kicked themselves to a three point lead. But the Met pack was carrying everything before it at the set piece and it looked only a matter of time before the home line was crossed. The youthful defenders had other ideas, however, and continually repelled the Police runners before they crossed the gain line. Twice, as the home scrum careered backwards, the Met chose to ignore the short side only to see the attack snuffed out in midfield. Nevertheless, half-time arrived with the Police in the ascendency and the hosts hanging on to the single penalty advantage.
The first fifteen minutes of the second half emphasised the Met’s dominance. Chris Holloway was causing havoc when he got the ball in his hands and Angus Munns was dragging in defenders around the fringes. It was no less than the Met deserved when Chris Padman finished off a period of Met pressure in the OG 22, peeling off from a massive Met trundle to give Sam Druce a fairly simple conversion. Druce was back on the scoreboard minutes later, following up a strong run by Holloway and recovering the latter’s chip over the top to claim a try he couldn’t convert.
Old Georgians showed all the exuberance of their youthful lineup, going straight up the other end and earning a penalty. They continued to apply the pressure on the Met’s defence so the Police could not get out of their own half. As OGs forced the Met back towards their own 22, a catalogue of handling errors by the Police eventually put the ball into the hands of the OGs No12 who ran in unopposed under the Police posts to put the home team into the lead. With their fly-half now dominating the tactical exchanges, OGs repeatly kicked the ball towards the Mets left corner. Struggling to field the astutely angled kicks, the Met turned the ball straight back to the attacking side and another set of handling errors followed by uncharacteristic poor tackling allowed OGs to run in a second try, this time in the left corner.
Although looking a little frantic, the Met did launch a revival. Georgians' defence was also tiring and finding it increasingly difficult to hold the first line. When Healy and Holloway launched a long distance attack on the left, the home team were left grasping at air as a superb interchange of passes between the two veterans saw the Captain cross the line and Druce add the points to put the Met back in front with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Georgians surged back up the other end. The Met looked like they had just enough left in the tank to repel the attackers but an offside under the posts enabled Georgians to kick three points to go back in front. The Met had one last chance to snatch victory: a penalty on OGs 10 metre line begged for a kick to the corner and the likelihood of an ensuing penalty but scrum half Joe Stirrup took a quick tap only to be swallowed up by the massed ranks of retreating defenders and the chance was lost. It was a frustrating loss of discipline and, as so often over the years, the Met were undone more by a lack of training together than actual ability.
The result leaves the Police in second place, behind undefeated Becs Old Boys who entertain Old Georgians next week. OGs sit third with a game in hand.