PJF reap the rewards of a tough afternoon's work

On a warm October afternoon PJF took the field against local rivals Chipstead who came into the game unbeaten on paper, although two of their victories had been gained through walk overs. The game started at a frenzied pace with the Chipstead side fired up for the game. The early scrums saw PJF put under pressure with the young PJF front row learning their craft the hard way. Chipstead's dominance in the set piece gave Chipstead early territorial advantage. But Chipstead could not penetrate the PJF defence either through great tackling or an inability of Chipstead's to keep hold of the ball. After 15 minutes PJF changed the front row and brought on the experience of Shane van der Schyff. The first scrum after Shane's introduction seemed to see no improvement initially with Chipstead driving forward, only for the scrum to come ot a shuddering halt and a PJF secondary drive drove Chipstead backwards. The first half saw both sides squander scoring chaces as the physicality of the contest took its toll. It wasn't until the dying minutes of the first half that PJF created a half opening that Charlie Crowe, taking the opportunity, powered his way over the whitewash to touch down under the posts. The two added points were added. PJF went into half time with a narrow 7 point lead.
The second half was as uncompromising as the first with both sides hammering away to create an opening. About 20 minutes into the half PJF kicked ahead for Chase Thompson gathering the favourable bounce to finish in the corner. The extra points were missed. Chipstead came back strongly and played some of their best rugby of the afternoon, but still they could not breach the PJF defence. PJF repeatedly turned the ball over to frustrate Chipstead. It wasn't untl the last play of the game that Chipstead managed to bash their way over the PJF line. With the extra points the game ended 12-7 to PJF. The second half saw both sides receiving yellow cards for indiscipline. PJF allowed Chipstead to get under their skin and that did cause players to lose some focus. We have to learn the lesson that opposition goading is done to disrupt our game and we must become more thick skinned and focus our attention on what we are should be doing rather than listening to unhelpful comments from the opposition.
Next week sees PJF travel to Warlingham for another hard fought local derby. We encourage those not playing to come along and spport the lads who have started to string some results together.