Score: Hammersmith & Fulham II 10 - BBBRFC 12

An early start that was made bearable as it was at Hurlingham Park - possibly the closest game locationwise and possibly one of the closest scorewise! The BBB shaded this encounter with the Hammers just as the end of the second half saw the BBB defend our lines well with the Hammers missing 2 straight forward penalty attempts to win the game.

We started well and scored with about 10 minutes gone - a couple of phases and a good recycle saw Penn over on the right. Apart from our score the teams seemed evenly matched although the Hammers no:10 proved a handful at times, through a mixture of deception and poor defence. There seemed to be a lack of BBB 1st time tackling which Ellis seemed to remonstrate at every opportunity.

At the end of the 1st half the BBB had added another score through Little after good build up play and the Hammers added a converted try.

The second half saw a mixture of substitutes and the introduction of Harper, Johnston & Monroe in the backs and Ben Romerlee in the forwards. The only score in the 2nd half came in the form of a Hammers penalty and two or three other missed opportunities. Percentagewise the action took place mostly in the BBB half and the Hammers must be kicking themselves for not converting this into points. BBB tackling was shoddy at times and we gave away countless penalties.

In true BBB fashion though we tried to run everything although there were times when clearing our lines was a better option! Still, when it mattered we forged our way out of defence and nearly scored from a charge-down clearance lick by Murray which just went dead.

At the final whistle we had won and it wasn't pretty, but a gutsy performance by all involved.

Tim Penn