PJF bounce back from previous week's disappointment

PJF turned up at O Cats having diappointingly lost the previous week and with a point to prove. Captain Charlie had impressed on the side during the week's training sessioins that everyone needed to pull together and work hard and leave it all on the pitch.
The afternoon was sunny. The kick off saw PJF not take the ball cleanly and conceded an early line out on the 10m line. This enabled Cats to exert some pressure which PJF weathered. Having shaken of the early uncertainty PJF started to dominate the set scrummage and were pushing Cats backward on nearly every occasion. The pressure on the Cat's scrummage seemed to spread to the lineout and Cats's lineout also malfunctioned. Despite the pressure Cats defended their line well and it took several visits to the Cats 22m before PJF were able to force their way over the line for the opening score. The conversion was missed. From the restart Cats managed to muster up some pressure of their own and forced PJF back into their 22m. From a ruck the Cats scrum half dummied the ball and slipped in under the PJF posts for a bit of a soft try. Cats added the extras to go into the 7-5 lead. Towards the end of the half Cats got a penalty a little way outside of the PJF 22m and managed to knock it over for a 10-5 lead which they took into half time. PJF were playing well but were not clinical enough on their visits to the 'red' zone.

The second half started in the same vein as the first with PJF largely domination the set piece and keeping Cats penned in their own half. PJF started to look more fluid in possession and more controlled after the freneticism of the first half and their seconfd try saw Max Webber slide over after a lovely passage of back play that Max finished of with a mazy run. Joe Rendell added the extra points and PJF had taken a 10-12 lead. From the restart PJF re-applied the pressure and Cats conceded a kickable penalty that Joe slotted and PJF had a 5 point cushion. At this point in the game PJF seemed to loose some of their concentration and started to concede some silly penalties which allowed Cats to play in the PJF half. One of the penalties was conceded within kickable range and Cats narrowed the difference to two points. Shortly afterwards Cats had an opportunity to retake the lead wih another kickable penalty and PJF were grateful that the kick was missed. From the re-start the ball was kicked deep and some good chasing play saw Cats pinned back in their own half. From the ensuing set piece Cats conceded another penalty that Joe converted for PJF to stretch their lead out to 5 points again. The closing eight minutes were nerve racking with PJF continuing to concede cheap penalties between the 10 m lines. Eventually PJF managed to get hold of the ball and picked and drove their way up the park, the period of possession culminating in a penalty for PJF on the half way line which PJF kicked dead to win the game. Final score 13-18.

Next week PJF take on the other undefeated side in te division when O Rutlishians visit the Pightle for a 2.30 kick off. We look forward to welcoming a good crowd of supporters for the game.

The Marlins also ran uot on the Saturday and despite being two men short, they put up a spirited display to make London media work hard for a 0-30 victory. The Marlins are away to Sutto and Epsom over next weekend. We want to ensure the Marlins run out more often so if you play, please make yourself available.

On Sunday, the minis U7s, 8s and 9s played in the Sutton and Epsom festival and acquitted themselves well. This weekend the U10s and 11s play in the S&E festival for older age groups.