London Nigerian travelled the short distance to Twyford Avenue on Saturday to play local rivals and fellow exiles London New Zealand in a game which saw the mercurial Nigerians take on a clinical guise and ease to victory by 31 points to 12 without ever looking too stretched.     The scrum again proved to be the foundation upon which Nigerian based their win; even with the talismatic Okmohodion rested, hooker cum loose-head prop Steve Hanlon dominated his opposite number and combining with Neal Fetterman and the immovable Guy Roberts they forced multiple turnovers to give a steady supply of ball.

The game started at a frenetic pace with the kiwis looking to run everything as they played up the slope into the wind. The Nigerian defence stood strong and the new look back row of Andy Davey, Yinka Omilani and Jim Morrison tackled everything that moved, eventually forcing a penalty after five minutes for holding on. Ugo Ekeowa struck the penalty cleanly to give Nigerian a three point lead. The lead was short-lived as the enterprising New Zealand backs continued to take the game to their Nigerian counterparts. A well worked move in the corner resulted in their scrum half diving over to take the lead, the conversion was missed.  5 – 3 to the hosts. Nigerian held their composure and struck back immediately; fly half Ekeowa playing a delicate chip through for Ibi Shelling to gather and touch down under the posts within minutes, Ekeowa adding the extras to stretch the visitors’ advantage to 5 – 10. The try sparked the Nigerian backline in to life and they started to make large inroads into the New Zealand half, one such break saw fly half Ekeowa slice open the defence and carry the ball 30 metres, Captain Ali Shelleng was on his shoulder to take the scoring pass under the posts; Ekeowa converted (5 – 17). Nigerian did not sit back and continued pressure by the now omnipotent scrum forced a knock on under the posts allowing the sniper like Gabriel Odediran to score, Ekeowa again converted, to leave Nigerian 24 points to 5 ahead at halftime.

The 2nd half saw London New Zealand again look to take the game to their guests, running everything and never letting their heads drop. Ferocious tackling by both sides meant that no quarter was given for the first 10 minutes. Eventually the free running New Zealand backs worked a blind side move to score in the corner, their fullback converting from a difficult angle. At 12 – 24, Nigerian were in no mood to surrender their lead and good work by Davey and the returning Fetterman at the breakdown enabled another turnover from which Ekeowa fly hacked through to score close to the posts with Ekeowa again converting to leave things at 12 – 31 in favour of the away team. The remainder of the 2nd half was a quite enthralling affair with both sides playing some enterprising rugby and the resolute defences of either side proving impervious. Special mention must go to Anthony Obiekwe who played most of the match with an injured shoulder, but never once took a step back in the tackle. There was to be no more score in the final quarter, but London Nigerian must have gained heart at what was an awesome defensive performance and their ability to play and score from turnover ball and broken play a real highlight.

Man of the Match: Neal Fetterman (playing his first game after the birth of his twin boys a month ago and making a mockery of his pre-game protestations of his lack of match fitness)

Team:

15 Gareth Williams

14 Leon Barrett

13 Ibi Shelleng

12 Ali Shelleng (capt)

11 Yuki Omenai

10 Ugo Ekeowa

9   Gabriel Odediran

1  Steve Hanlon

2  Neal Fetterman

3  Guy Roberts

4  Ian Morrison

5  Anthony Obiekwe (Omokhodion 60mins)

6  Andy Davey

7  Yinka Omilani

8  Jim Morrison

16 Osahon Omokhodion