Tonbridge Juddians 19 - Wimbledon 17

What a difference a year makes, last season Wimbledon also lost both matches against Tonbridge
Juddians, but this year the margin of defeat is now down to just two points in the match away from
home. This progress is ample reward for all the efforts of players, coaches and medical staff over
the last eighteen months. If the two clubs meet again next season then perhaps the results will be
reversed. With the captaincy now passing to no.8 Roy Godfrey in the absence of the injured Dylan
Flashman, Wimbledon tore into their opponents with heavy tackles and aggressive forward play.

The front row of Phil Viane, Jesse Muir and the tireless Josh Bayford also seemed to impose
themselves on the opposition. Muir’s accurate lineout throwing allowed lock Andy Hore to win good
possession and get Wimbledon going forward. A match played in no wind allowed the kickers from
each side to score the kicks when presented, but Liam Prescott for Juddians had easier chances than
Wimbledon’s Bryan Croke. Wimbledon opened the scoring after three minutes when a lineout peel
in the Juddian’s 22 allowed Phil Viane to brush through the first tacker and send centre Jack Reville
through the gap and to the posts. The conversion was easy and Wimbledon had taken the lead.

A scrum penalty 35m out allowed Juddians to gain field position and a further penalty for side entry
gave Juddians a lineout near the Wimbledon line but their calls may not have functioned and
Wimbledon regained possession through Hore but Juddians got their first score after 19minutes
when Wimbledon gave a penalty 35m out and in front of the posts. With Juddians now starting to
dominate, Wimbledon through Andy Hore again stole an important lineout ball but eventually after
31 minutes a Wimbledon scrum 5m out collapsed and the referee went to the posts and awarded a
penalty try.

With a halftime score of 10 – 7 Juddians thought they had the match under control and
with two further penalties took the score to 16 – 7. Wimbledon made a final effort and after 59
minutes a sustained attack on the Juddians line the defenders were judged offside at a ruck and gave
Croke a chance to narrow the margin, to 16 – 10. Wimbledon continued their attack and a driving
maul was collapsed by the Juddians pack in the red zone and the referee again decided that a
penalty try was appropriate, with Wimbledon now back in the lead at 17 – 16 some advice was given
to both captains after close quarter forward exchanges and each side received yellow cards at times
during the final stages of the match. On 75 minutes Juddians were awarded a final penalty and
Prescott made no mistake with his kick to gain his team victory 19 - 17.

Whilst this was a defeat after a run of nine successive wins, Wimbledon took away a losing bonus
point and had the satisfaction of scoring two tries to Juddian’s one. They remain in 2nd place in the
league. Back at Barham Road Wimbledon’s 2nd XV played Ealing Trailfinders in the Zoo League and
won 41 – 26.

Next Saturday Wimbledon 1 st XV will be away to Amersham & Chiltern with a 2.30pm kick-off.