The rain had poured down for hours and it certainly was not a day for Running Rugby.  London Nigerian, a side that is traditionally at its weakest in the heart of winter – something to do with fleet-footed West Africans “not liking the cold” and finding the boggy conditions ill-suited to their high-tempo attacking game – arrived at the Riverside as firm underdogs.

True to the form guide, the home side started the stronger and Nigerian soon found themselves having to stoically and, on occasion, frantically defend their try line.  Aggressive defending from the makeshift back row of Leon Lam, Ali Shelleng and Jim Morrison did enough to disrupt the flow of the Chiswick halfbacks thus keeping them at bay.  Then came the Wunder Try:

Putting in to a defensive scrum on their own 5-metre line, Nigerian were under immense pressure knowing one mistake could gift the opening score to their hosts. The front 5 held firm giving Gabriel Odediran time to get his pass away to Luke Davids at fly half.  The mercurial[*] Davids shaped to clear but an onrushing Chiswick defender caused him to check and sidestep, a second defender was evaded in similar fashion and all of a sudden, finding a big hole opening up in front of him tore away down the blindside with Ugo Ekeowa in support.  The latter carried play out of the 22 before looking infield to find his skipper haring up alongside him. Shelleng Snr shipped the ball onto Jon Knott who immediately offloaded on to Ibi Shelleng on his outside.  Shelleng Jnr straightened the line, beating one defender and carrying play into the Chiswick half.  With defenders converging on him he spun out a delightful pass to Ik Iroche holding a wide position on the right wing. Iroche beat the Chiswick fullback with a step off his left foot and was able to hold off a second defender long enough to touch the ball down in the right corner.

Sparked by Davids, London Nigerian, totally against the run of play took the lead by scoring a contender for Try of the Season, one try line to another in the space of 12 or 13 seconds – the handling of the Nigerian backs making a mockery of the wet conditions.

At this point, much credit must go to Chiswick.  Having conceded 5 points to a trademark swashbuckling London Naija try, they could have suffered a crisis of confidence and retreated into their shells.  On the contrary, they dusted themselves off and went right back to Plan A.  Playing without the ball for long stretches of the game, the Nigerian defence proved itself as stubborn as any Lagos street hawker.  It took a flash of inspiration from the home side’s no. 9 to finally breach the black & green wall.  From an attacking scrum just outside the 22, he showed remarkable acceleration and elusive running to evade the despairing grasps of at least 4 Nigerian defenders before showing enough composure to ground the ball despite the distractions of a strong Ekeowa tackle on the line.  An excellent conversion by his No. 10 gave his side the lead they would not relinquish at 7 – 5.

Playing with the wind and the slope in the 2nd half, Nigerian expected to be able to carve the winning scores.  They enjoyed a greater share of ball possession as their pack took the ascendancy. For a welcome change, the opposing team, desperate to keep hold of their slender lead, fell foul of the referee’s whistle more often.  However, with Ekeowa failing to convert the only one of thee penalties that came within kicking range, Nigerian were unable to capitalize. Chiswick on the other hand were able to extend their lead in the final quarter when their kicker succeeded in kicking one penalty through the sticks.

At 10 – 5, Nigerian were just a converted try away from regaining the lead but the Chiswick defence played with real heart and intelligence to repeatedly deny them.  The visitors’ best chance of the quarter fell to Iroche but this time around, he was well-shackled and the opportunity spurned.  Chiswick finally finished off the game with their best passage of play.  They took possession down one side of the pitch and then, very quickly, the other way stretching a tiring Nigerian defence just enough for their left wing to sidestep his way over the whitewash from 5 metres out.  15 – 5 with 6 minutes of play left, it was all over bar a little huffing and puffing.

Man of the Match

The scoreline notwithstanding, several Nigerian playas stood up to be counted.  Skipper Ali Shelleng had another outstanding game in defence; Ian Morrison was all-action across the park.  The front row of Mohammed, Hanlon & Omokhodion were rampant in the 2nd half while the back line always looked dangerous with ball in hand.  Man of the Match though, went to the excellent Leon Lam playing out of position at blindside blanker (as opposed to the left wing).  His tackling, particularly in the first half repeatedly saved his team’s blushes

Report by Ik Iroche

Next Week

The 4th Annual Carl Christian Memorial Day – typically the biggest in the club’s sporting year – will take place at the Linford Christie Stadium.  An All-Star team of London Naija x-Playas will take on Belsize Park (the side against whom Carl donned his boots for the last time before departing us for a better place) in an early kick-off before the 1st XV take to the field against old rivals Finchley in a game that has all the hallmarks of a Relegation Dogfight.

If you come to watch one game this season, make it this one.  There will be a full house, plenty of food (jollof) and drink (Gulder) and emotions will run high on the pitch as Carl’s old friends wage battle in his honour.

London Nigerian RFC

  1. Omokhodion, Osahon
  2. Hanlon, Stephen
  3. Mohammed, Usman
  4. Morrison, Ian
  5. Van der Linden, Brad
  6. Lam, Leon
  7. Shelleng, Aliyu (C)
  8. Morrison, Jim (r: Ahukanna 70mins)
  9. Odediran, Gabriel
  10. Davids, Luke
  11. Williams, Gareth
  12. Knott, Jonathan
  13. Shelleng, Ibi
  14. Iroche, Ik
  15. Ekeowa, Ugo
  1. Ahukanna, Maynard
  2. Irele, Francis (Lloyd Bizzle)