This fixture was subject to a late pitch inspection and when we arrived it was easy to see why there was some debate, with very muddy conditions underfoot.

In match A/1 a full compliment of Hampstead squared up against a very physical and big Finchley team. The first half was a battle of attrition - and unsurprisingly let to some injuries. Excellent tackling, rucking, counter-rucking was evident from both sides. Our boys impressed with some fearless defence and pressure at the breakdown. Despite this towards the end of the first half and with Hampstead down to 11 players, Finchley racked up four tries. After 25mins of hard rugby the boys welcomed a ten minute respite at half time. The second half was no less physical and now Finchley had the upper-hand.

Hampstead continued to play some admirable rugby with ball in hand - especially when moving it across the line. The defence though breached by physically stronger players never quit. And there were some fine moments of jackalling and turnovers at ruck time. However Finchley ultimately ran out comfortable winners as we counted our walking wounded. The boys can be very proud of how they stood up to Finchley; how well represented the values of our club, fighting for one another, being respectful and never giving up. Character traits that will stand them in good stead as the season progresses. A tough day for the boys (and their washing machines). We go again next week.

A large reservoir had formed across a part of the pitch, presumably covering a deep shell hole. We were also fielding a strong Hampstead side, although against a weaker Finchley B team that included some new joiners. We were a couple of players short at the start but they dipped into their bast reserves and spared us a couple of their new recruits, one of whom formed a decent addition to our front-row. It was difficult to run very fast in the mud but our players contested the rucks and mauls very well and tackled as a team. Alexander martialled our superior back line extremely effectively and, with some great passing interplay, we ran out probably 5-1 in front at half-time. Without substitutes on our side, we were down three more through injury at half-time and then moved one player across to team 1. Finchley were generous in filling our gaps but not before taking back the better players they’d lent us in the first half and filling our ranks with some very raw recruits (literally 30-minuters). Finchley did well to recover their confidence and enjoyed a short flurry of tries - but these felt compensatory against a side that was now drawn half from their own ranks. And our spirit never broke. We held the line to the end and finished on top. The match was conducted in a gentlemanly way with handshakes all round at the end. Some heroic performances and a great character-building day.