Date: 24th Nov. 2007

Vees crashed to their fifth successive loss, away to West London based side Old Abbotstonians. Despite being bottom of the table Vees went into this fixture with the belief of ending their losing streak. Poor discipline in the first 30 minutes handed the advantage to the home side as they raced away to a 13-0 lead. Vees dominant again in the tight spilled the ball forward from a ruck. The lively Abbostonians 9 scooped up the ball and moved it wide quickly to give their right winger a clear run into the line.

The second score came from a quick tap penalty midfield, this time moved quickly left. The left winger was away, but for a diving tap tackle from Vees fullback Chris Monaghan. Abbotstonians kept hold of the ball and moved it quickly back out to the right winger who raced away to score again. The Abbotstonians fly half missed both conversions but made amends with a long range penalty kick soon after. Vees didn't panic and fought to get themselves back in the game. Which they did with two tries from Number 8 Ali Luxford. With Fly half Andy Evans starting to control the game and give his forwards good field position, the Vees pack started to make headway up front with strong running from the Pugh, Spyropulous and Tromans. But it was Luxford who burst through some weak tackling from 15 metres out to score Vees first then scored again 5 minutes later from the back of a driving maul. Half time 13-10.

Vees started the 2nd half in control again and it wasn't long before they took the lead. Another strong driving maul by the Vees forwards saw Luxford going for his third, but was held up short. Ever present openside, Ben Moralee was on hand to roll and dive under the fringe defence to score his first try this season. Evans added the extras to take vees 17-13 up and very much in control. But with 20 minutes left to play Vees sat back on their lead and let Abbotstonians run at them. The Vees first up defence held strong. However the home side had had great success in the first half with little chips in behind the Vees back line. This tactic was to be the deciding factor in this game. With two long raking kicks in behind the Vees saw both Abbotsonians wingers pick tries in a five minute spell. At 25-17, Vees were running out of time to turn the game around. Evans added a penalty to take it 25-20 with five minutes to play, but Vees were unable to get themselves into a good field position to challenge the Abbostonians line.

That's four defeats for the Vees within a score and they are left wondering what they need to do to win a game. They'll have a chance to put it right next week as they take on Old Millhillians at Cotlandswick. 2.30 pm KO.

Graphics & Design: S. Mandelbaum (shalom@mandelbaumonline.net)