Actonians V Wednesbury-21.08.21

Actonians made the long trip to Wednesday for their first game of Rugby Union for over 500 days. The inaugural Danny Till derby saw the London team arrive after a sumptuous 3-and-a-half-hour journey, leaving them a small amount of time to warm up and blow off the cobwebs of a year and a half absence.

Regardless, Acton started brightly, working the ball through some nice phases and going touchline-to-touchline in greasy conditions. The opening score of the game came from Number 8 Ben Watkins from 10 metres which definitely felt like 100. Danny Till added on the extra 2 points to rub the salt in the wound for his old club, dissecting the world’s tallest posts with his first kick of the game.

Acton continued to make ground around the park. Solid scrums gave the backs a great platform to work with and the backline was beginning to purr like a well-oiled machine. Of course, ill-discipline started to make its way into the match, with flanker Cian McDonagh only making legal turnovers after the half an hour mark. Acton’s second try came from captain Matt Lloyd, once again proving himself to be the slipperiest eel on the pitch, dancing through defenders with ease and handing off anyone who got too close. Danny Till added the extras.

Wednesbury started to fire back, using their big runners to batter down the doors of the Acton defence, with limited success. Alas, after some time, the defence was breached and the home team were on the score board. Shockingly, their number 8 missed the conversion.

With fitness levels ebbing and substitutes already rolling in and out, the play became more disjointed. However, following more pressure, Matt Andrews managed to push over from close range, Danny Till once more adding on the extras.

Half Time was a welcome relief, although Wednesbury certainly came out firing quicker, scoring in the corner and this time nailing the conversion. The rest of the match certainly showed the rustiness of both teams, with plenty of points being left on the pitch. However, Acton showed some excellent passages of play with ball in hand and could well have scored more. With every player out on their feet, everyone was happy when the full-time whistle went with Acton 21-12 winners.

The post-match hospitality shown by Wednesbury was excellent, and we thank them for adequately supplying us before our journey back. Matt Lloyd won MOTM for an all-round display whilst Mark Stuart got the first DOTD of the season for his 2 exceptional quick lineouts: the first he took as a tap penalty and the second came off a Wednesbury penalty. Exceptional work all-round!