2009 Results, Match Reports & Awards

 The Brendan Crilly and Mick Quinn-inspired Hoists set up a blockbuster showdown after feasting

on the Stags at Storm Park on Saturday in their first grand final appearance. The win was the first

 grand final for the Hoists, but not the first piece of silver wear in the ever growing trophy cabinet.

''I'm really pleased for the players today. It was representative of how we prepared this week and a

 reflection of the commitment shown all year. The players and the club thoroughly deserved it''

coach Luke Wiggins said. With the season on the line, it was the Stags who looked like scoring

 first. They received 6 penalties in the first 10 minutes and it was obvious the officials were trying

to avoid the inevitable.

All credit to the Hoists as they stuck together and their defensive line was rock solid which

 the stags simply couldn’t cross.  The Stags eventually did score their first and only try of the match

when an out stretched back rower went over out wide, however it was all the Hoists from then on

 with them dominating proceedings. The Hoists went into the half time break leading 34-0, with

first half tries to Quarmby, Fownes, McLennan, Bartlett and Anslow with Jorgenson adding the

 extras.

The Hoists showed they had so much skill in attack. It was playmaker Dujon Jorgenson who got

 the glamour started, throwing a 20m cut-out pass to give James Quarmby his second try of the

 day. The Hoists made the most of the Stags' meek defence when interchange hooker Matt

Fownes put the result beyond doubt at the 59th when he burrowed over from dummy half.

To put the icing on the cake and what brought the curtain down on an enormous first season for

the Hoists it was none other than Vice Captain and backrower James Skee who bolted through

the pack and scored the final try of the day. In a post match interview Skee said, “I have been

backing up all year only to be beaten to the ball on every occasion by fullback Matt Wiggins, but he

 was not going to stop me getting this one or me collecting the cash from Willie Hill for being the

last try scorer”.

The Hoist would also like to extend a big thanks to all the boys who came and helped out - Johny,

Karl, Zuks, Muzz and Dim

HOISTS 58 (J Quarmby 2 M Fownsey 2 C Anslow J Skee C Bartlett M McLennan W Formosa J

Reisterer tries; D Jorgenson 9 goals)

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Hammersmith Hills Hoists 64 Royal Air Force 10

Twyford Park, Acton

Saturday 8^th August

It was a simple game plan, and it showed callous disregard for the hardcore RAF.

Flash equals finals, and afterwards, following a result that ensured their first-ever grand final appearance, the word every Hoist reached for was one of those dreary footballers' buzzwords: grind.

In a near perfect first half despite the heat and sun in their faces they set up camp in RAF territory, and finally emerged 40 minutes later with a 30-point lead.

Pack leader Mick Quinn added an enormous amount of sting with his defence and lifted his work mates to really belt the RAF boys who showed little resilience to the Hoists dominance. 

The HHH intentions were clear from the first set, when Dujon Jorgenson put a lovely chip over the line which found a flying Matt Wiggins who reeled it in and scored under the sticks.

After a series of repeat sets, the Hoists piled on the points through tries to Ziggy Bartlett, Nathan McLaughlin, Mark McLennan and another to Matt Wiggins.

To complete their early dominance, Jorgenson took a return pass from CJ Anslow, shrugged off three tacklers, scored and converted.

The Hoists still looked comfortable. While they leaked two tries, both to smart thinking by the RAF their men never looked likely to breach the HHH defence.

While the RAF’s left side crumbled in the latter stages, conceding two tries to winger Jum Quamby, one to Hooker Wayne Baker, one to front rower Brendon Erket and one from the captain James Skee.

Player’s player was Mick Quinn, who received a double pass movie pass courtesy of Cineworld Cinema’s.

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Big congrats to the boys for taking out the Skolars 9s tournament on the weekend.  It was a great day out and some really good efforts from all concerned. It was a very close competition with all teams losing at least one match throughout the day. The boys started the campaign with a strong win against the Scottish Exiles. 

The next game the boys had little luck and were not quite at their best as they lost to the London Wanderers team in a close encounter. The Hoists were able to re-group for their final must-win group match and beat Southgate Skolars by a couple of tries, thus finishing top of the pool. 

From here the boys played the final against their victors in the second match, London Wanderers.  The boys put in a very polished performance, led by some rock solid defence and simple footy and comfortably beat their opponents in the big match with 5 tries to 1. 

Big thanks to all concerned.  Players player and top try scorer was Cal Sipthorp.  Chris Rushton and Dan Sullivan also produced great efforts on the day.

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Hammersmith 28 V  Royal Navy Academy 0

Portsmouth Naval Base, Portsmouth

On Saturday 26th July, the Club travelled to Portsmouth in an attempt  to get their season back on track after a heavy loss to the Royal Navy the week before.  The team was expecting another tough hit out against the Navy Academy squad.  After arriving at the ground at 3.20pm (for a 3.00pm kick off) due to some heave traffic on the road, the boys had a quick warm up took the field. 

The Navy boys look none too pleased at the perceived lack of time management skill shown by their opponents which had them all fired up.  Once again the Navy Academy team was a big, strong side and with only two subs to call on the Hoists knew they were in for a tough afternoon. However, this team didn't have the same attacking qualities of the national team form the week before, and the drop in class was evident early on. 

The Hoists were able to find room both up the middle of the ruck and on the fringes as they stretched the compact Navy defence.  The boys scored some very neatly constructed tries on the back of good work around the halves and some excellent running and finishing from the outside backs. The boys were particularly under the pump for a large section of the first half, conceding lots of penalties and field position, and having two blokes sent to the sin bin. However, the boys held their line and the Navy were unable to crack the defensive wall. 

As the game wore on more opportunities were found out wide and the Hoists continued to pile on the points and eventually took a comfortable lead.  To Navy Academy's credit they never gave and went hard to the final whistle. 

In the end the Hoists won 28-0.

There were some excellent performances form Mark McLennan, Brendan Erkhet, Hayden Everington, and Dujon Jorgenson.

Players Player: Justin McIlveen.

The boys would also like to send a big thanks for Muzz who ran the water, subs and generally kept us organised on the day.

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Hammersmith 40 v Belgium 24

J Peeters Stadium, Wavre, Belgium

The Hammersmith Hills Hoists arrived in Brussels on Friday night excited about playing the first game of Rugby League in Belgium. On Saturday July 10^th  the team headed out to J Peeters Stadium, Wavre for a 4pm kickoff. The Belgium team was a big physical unit. From the start of the game everyone knew we were in for a tough game.  Belgium were  the first to score through a Hammersmith defensive mistake.  

However the team hit back shortly after with Dan Sullivan scoring in the corner. Within a few minutes, the Hoists were in again when Matt Wiggins ran away to score under the posts from a great offload from Wade Formosa.  The Belgians continued to pressure never gave in and there big physical presence meant that we couldn’t take it easy on them. The Hoists conceded a few cheap penalties were and were able to capitalise on this through a well placed kick and an excellent chase to score again.  Another Hammersmith try by Dan Sullivan on the wing and Brendan Crilly meant Hammersmith went into half time with a 24-10 lead.

The second half produced a lot of points.  The Hoists began to struggle as they picked up a couple of injuries and the Belgium kept showing their determination to win. Belgium went in for the first try in the second half through by some poor discipline by the Hammersmith team.  

However Dan Sullivan went over again for his 3^rd try of the game after the Hoists showed some better ball control and discipline in their play.  But the Belgians kept fighting fighting hard and intercepted a kick shortly after to score a 60m try.  The Hoists again hit back however with Dan Sullivan topping off a great game to score  his 4^th try and the ever improving Wade Formosa going under the posts for 4 points. With Hammersmith tiring super sub Luke Leslie Wiggins was injected into the game which proved to be a master stroke from Coach Paul Farah.  The little red head diving over in a smart dummy half play to seal the game for Hammersmith 40-24.

Players Player: Wade Formosa

Hammersmith would like to thanks Marc Delreux for organizing the game and after match function and there sponsors: Shepherds Bush Walkabout, Vibe Teacher recruitment, First Festival Travel, Downunder Tradies, Jumbucks Pies & Cineworld.

Hammersmith 74 v St Mary's University 10 

Twyford Park, Acton

27th June 2009

The Hoists were looking to secure their ninth victory in a row when they took on St Mary's University rugby league team. St Mary's are ranked the third best University in the country so the boys were up for big game against a potentially tough opponent.  

From the early exchanges it became apparent the conditions were going to to suit the more agile and quicker players from Hammersmith.  Fullback Matt Wiggins scored from their first attacking opportunity, with some excellent speed and footwork to get outside  of his opponent. 

From here on the Hoists were able to dominate field position and the match through some smart ruck play, good ball control and excellent width in attack.  This caused the St Mary's defence to tire as the game wore on, creating plenty of gaps in the St Mary's defensive line.  There were some fantastic tries scored throughout the match, most coming on the back of well executed backline moves and some creative off loading from the forwards.

The game was played in excellent spirit and I would like to thank St Mary's, who were obviously not at full strength, for being part of great afternoon of Rugby League . 
 
Excellent games from Matt Wiggins, Josh Geitz and James Skee. 
 
Players player went to Mick Quinn who was outstanding in defence and really rattled their big men with some brutal hitting.
 
Well done to all of the boys!

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Guildford Giants Rugby League Ground, Guildford

Saturday 30th May, 2009

Last weekends game was an away match against Guilford RLFC. Southern England really turned on a great day with blue skies and a temperature well into the 20's. The hot conditions really tested the boys. The game started off with a solid 7 to 8 minutes of just defending after a few penalties for ruck infringements piggy-backed Guilford up the park. 
 
After some excellent line defence, the boys really turned it on, and once they were given a chance with the ball they showed true attacking class. Some neat backline plays set up some very entertaining tries. The forwards set a great platform throughout the match with some strong hitups from our make-shift front rowers, Wade Formosa, Josh Geitz and James Skee. Justin McIlveen was very busy in and around the rucks working well with Matty Fownes to lead the boys around the park. 
 
This weeks players player was Justin McIlveen.  Solid games also from Matty Fownes, James Skee and Josh Geitz.
 
I would like to thank the boys who came out to help with running the water, collecting kit and showing their support - the club cant function without people like you. Also a big thanks to Guilford for putting on a great day of rugby league and showing good spirit on and off the field.
 
Result Hammersmith 64 def Guilford 16
Tries : Matty Fownes 2,  Jason McCrae 2, Justin McIlveen 2,  Dan Sullivan 2,  Murray Newham 2,  Karl Mulchary

South London Storm 6 vs Hammersmith 52 

Storm Park, London

6th May 2009

Congratulations and thank you to all the boys who played on the weekend against South London Storm. The boys scored a few early tries, but to the storm's credit, they hit back with several good breaks down the edges and caused trouble for our outside backs. They also displayed some solid defence and pressure which led to several dropped balls by the boys.  After the team settled down, played to our strengths and followed the game plan, it became very open and the boys laid on some entertaining tries. Matt Wiggins in particular proved a real menace for the tired Storm defence with his support play in and around the ruck. 
 
At one stage we had four hookers playing in the forwards - Ben Clarke in the front row, Wayne Baker and Ziggy Bartlet in the back row and Justin Mcilveen at hooker, and although we gave away a lot in size to the storm pack our go forward was still first class.
 
Well done boys on our third successive victory. I would also like to thank the South London Storm for the sportsmanship they showed and hosting a great afternoon of rugby league.

Players Player:   Matt Wiggins .  Good games also by Ben Clarke &  Mick Quinn

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