1st Team
Matches
Sat 14 Jan 2017  ·  Surrey 3
Guildfordians 1st XV
14
20
Metropolitan Police Rugby Club
1st Team
Tries: H Yule, J ConnollyConversions: J Connolly (2)Penalties: J Connolly (2)
New Year Resolution Steals Win For Met

New Year Resolution Steals Win For Met

Neil SINCLAIR16 Jan 2017 - 20:23
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Police keep pushing league leaders with uphill win at Guildfordians

A successful first half of the season placed the Met just behind the two promotion places going into the Christmas break writes Simon Hall. A good win against a young Old Johnians XV before the Xmas break promised great things for the New Year. And 2017 started with a win, and The Met will take that quite happily.

Old Guildfordians are never a team to take lightly, especially on a horrible wet, cold and muddy day. Losing the toss at London Road usually means playing uphill in the second half and on this occasion the elements were added to the mix.

Old Guildfordians started far the better of the two adversaries, adapting more quickly to the ugly conditions. The home team kept the ball tight, never releasing it beyond their No.10, whose little dinks over the top of Met's defence put pressure on the police decision making. So it was somewhat against the run of play that The Met opened the scoring.
A well worked move started with the Police forwards moving the ball from the middle of the pitch out to the right via excellent running and support. The ball then swept back to the left, putting Harri Yule into open space and try under the post which was duly converted by JJ Connolly.
Emphasising the incongruity of the Met taking the early lead, Old Guildfordians equalised almost immediately. But the home side was unable to capitalise on its apparent superiority and the Met were next to score, Simon Hall catching the Old Boys napping with a tap penalty and JJ Connolly was put through for a try which he also converted. The final try of the half came from a Met mistake this time, the Old Guildfordian centre getting his first touch with an interception of a misguided pass, and running in the try for a simple 7 points.

The teams turned round level at 14 points-a-piece, and The Met now faced the worst of the conditions, playing uphill. However, it is the unpredictability of sport that makes us love it and keeps us coming back week after week. Although it never rose to any giddy heights, the Met's second half performance was far superior to what had gone before, spending most of it entrenched in the home team's half. The reward was two penalties for Connolly as Guildfordians infringed at rucks and a 20-14 victory for London's Finest.

It was by no means glamorous but a victory none the less for the promotion chasing Met, confirming their third spot, and maintaining the pressure on Reeds and Haileyburians just above them. It was certainly the right type of game and conditions to clear the festive season's cobwebs and highlight the New Year's fitness issues. Additional reporting by Gilbert Ball

Another weekend off before the next league game on
Saturday 28th Jan 2017 at Imber Court
MPRFC v Croydon @ 1430

We also have another second team game before kicking off at 1230 make sure you're there for a days worth of rugby action.

Match details

Match date

Sat 14 Jan 2017

Kickoff

14:15

Competition

Surrey 3

League position

3
Metropolitan Police
9
Guildfordians 1st XV
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - Met Friendly
Shirt Sponsor - Renzacci UK
Kit Supplier - Raging Bull
MPRFC Sports Ground - Imber Court
Club Sponsor - Powerhouse Fitness