London Nigerian 29 - Eton Manor 23
Feb
At last! London Nigerian pulled off a victory after the poor start to 2008 that has dropped them into the relegation zone. There were still a number of defensive lapses in this much improved performance though there was a welcome return to the fiery commitment that has long been the club’s on-field trademark. Not to condone violence on a rugby pitch, the eruption of two mass brawls in the second half was the clearest of all signals that the Nigerian pack would not take a backward step and allow themselves to be bullied.
The visitors started stronger and tested their hosts’ defensive will at length for close to ten minutes until an inspired interception by Richard Small deep in his own 22 sparked a Nigerian counterattack. “Biggie” showed, first, an impressive turn of pace and then quick-thinking and great execution with a chip over the advancing full back. Eton Manor’s left wing retrieved the ball in his own 22 before getting smashed by Small’s 15-stone plus frame. Nigerian regained possession and Remi found Small who rounded off a remarkable twenty seconds by dummying his way through the midfield defence for a converted try under the posts. 7 – 0 to the Big Man.
With Nigerian tails firmly up, they were soon deep in Eton Manor territory, after fine play from Nathan Bond turning attack into defence, where their pressure earned Biggie a penalty kick at goal to extend the lead to 10 – 0. As has been customary this season, Nigerian sat back to rest on their laurels allowing the visitors back into the game through their heavyweight pack. A horrendous defensive lapse in midfield let the Eton Manor full back through on halfway. He was stopped shy of the line but the support runner were on hand to narrow the gap with a score out wide: 0 – 5. More Nigerian sloppiness soon saw the lead cancelled out by a second try for the visitors taking the halftime score to 10 apiece.
Nigerian struck very early in the second half through the giant 2nd row, Chima Ijeoma. The world record holder for the Head First Long Jump (I kid you not!), ran a terrific line off his fly half and then turned on the afterburners to outpace the stunned cover defence for a score under the posts. Small’s conversion made it 17 – 10. The visitors soon put together a lively passage of attacking play before exploiting some naïve defending on the Nigerian left wing for a score near the posts and a conversion to level things at 17 all.
Sima Pale, the Nigerian left wing from Tonga playing only his fourth game for the club, soon atoned for his error with a breathtaking try from halfway evading the clutches of three Eton Manor defenders before an exquisite finish. Biggie did the honours to restore his side’s 7-point lead at 24 – 17.
It was at this stage that the fireworks began in a meleé of fisticuffs that took the referee some time to quell before brandishing a yellow card to one player from each side and awarding a penalty to the visitors.
A corsuscating Ibi Shelleng break soon had the hosts back on the front foot and excellent support play by the substitute Anthony Obiekwe earned the utility forward his first try of the season. Biggie failed to convert but Nigerian held a commanding lead at 29 – 17.
Nigerian resisted a barrage of pressure from the hosts before eventually conceding a penalty for straying offside – Eton Manor narrowed the gap to 29 – 20. A further rumbling of the fists saw two more players go in the bin before Lincoln Hunt was sent off for dangerous use of the boot late on. Nigerian held out for the extended injury time with thirteen against fourteen, conceding just the further penalty goal to finish 29 – 23 victors.
Man of the match: So many to choose from this week and I fear the task defeats me. Richard Small sparked the victory with his excellent first half display plus a personal haul of 14 points. Lumi Thompson was simply inspirational, shaking off a shoulder injury early in the game to make hit after hit whilst having to tidy up a seemingly endless series of shaky Nigerian scrums. Ibi Shelleng, deputising in the number 13 shirt for his injured skipper, revelled in the midfield creating havoc. For the 3rd week running, Chima “IKOS” Ijeoma was immense, earned an excellent try to show for his efforts and was only 5 yards short of a second. Ugo Ekeowa showed a welcome return to form with aggressive, line breaking counterattacking.
Next week: free weekend.
Noteworthy: Wole “The Ghost” Olufunwa missed his first league game for three and a half seasons – a truly remarkable run given the bruising nature of the game.
1. Lincoln Hunt
2. Hisham El-Marazki
3. Fola Odetoyinbo (r: Obiekwe, 65mins)
4. Chima Ijeoma
5. James Brown (r: Adeniji, 60mins)
6. Jemi Akin-Olugbade
7. Maynard Ahukanna
8. Olumide Thompson
9. Remi Williams
10. Richard Small
11. Sima Pale
12. Ali Shelleng (C)
13. Ibi Shelleng
14. Nathan Bond
15. Ugo Ekeowa
16. Neal Fetterman
17. Anthony Obiekwe
18. Tunde Adeniji
