Less than 48 hours before the scheduled kick-off time of 2pm on Tuesday 27th, the local derby between London Welsh and Esher at ODP is – officially at least - still on. Nevertheless, with a maximum temperature of only two degrees having been observed in Richmond over the course of the last ten days the likelihood of the game actually taking place must be in serious doubt.
It’s debatable which club is looking forward to this meeting with greater relish. For Welsh, it’s an opportunity to right the wrongs of the horror show against Moseley in the B&I Cup a fortnight ago, after last weekend’s cup-tie with Swansea was postponed barely five hours before kick-off. On the other hand, Esher haven’t won a single game in league or cup since they stunned the Welsh at Molesey Road back on 1st October, and desperately require another win soon to get their season back on-track. That 22-19 defeat was arguably the low-point of our season so far – Moseley’s bonus-point victory notwithstanding. But that Friday night ambush in the driving rain represents the only success by a bottom four club over a top four side in the Championship season thus far, and Tuesday’s fixture presents us with ample opportunity for revenge.
Yet it was revenge which was our undoing in the first meeting, with former London Welshmen Mike Whitehead and Sam Ulph showing their former club just what they were missing as they contributed 17 of their team’s points. Whitehead, in particular, was a revelation. Playing at full-back, he stepped-up to fly-half (or ‘first receiver’ to use the modern parlance) whenever Esher chose to kick from first-phase ball, and he skilfully kept Welsh pinned-back in our own half for long periods. It was just like watching a David Humphreys masterclass under the lights at Ravenhill…
But do Esher really fancy their chances of another upset, given a miserable run which has seen them collect just five points from their last eight league matches? Nine days after beating Welsh they suffered a humiliating 38-16 defeat at Birmingham Solihull, and with the Bees due in Hersham on New Year’s Day – just a five day turnaround - you could be forgiven for assuming that Mike Schmid’s team will be more focussed on getting that elusive four (or even five) point haul on Saturday. Nobody at Welsh will countenance any complacency after our last meeting, and many of us wish our neighbours well in their battle for survival, but any thought of seasonal goodwill goes out of the window for 80 minutes. Weather permitting, of course.
London Welsh v Esher - Match Preview
Posted by: The Dragons\\\' Den (IP Logged)
Date: 26/12/2010 19:45
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Given the still-freezing temperatures I'm extremely doubtful that the game will actually take place, so it's just a brief preview this week - don't want to write 1,000 words this week and then have to find another 1,000 words for the rearrangement!
Dour game which was a shame as there were quite a few Esher supporters around who knew little about rugby and might have enjoyed a better match. (No 1 on the list of inane comments -'Is this Jamie Lennard anything to do with Jason?'). Attendance 830 according to the Torygraph - very poor when you consider there was circa 2000 at the Pillar Data Arena on a damp Friday night in November. Have we given up on programmes as well as marketing?
It should have been our biggest crowd of the regular season, to only attract 830 is quite pathetic. The change of date and the uncertainty over the weather didn't help but there should still have been a couple of thousand through the gate for this local derby.
The other comparison is Bedford who had an attendance of 4,100 on Boxing Day and the equivalent of a quarter of our crowd turned up at 9am to clear their pitch of snow!
The quoted attendance figure is very disappoiting.
What I do wonder though is how we calculate our attendances. For example yesterday we brought along our three kids. A huge incentive to not have to pay ground entry.
However, do we count them? It won't double the crowd but these are potential long term supporters, most parents I imagine pay for stand seats and the youngsters boost merchandise sales.
There are plenty of good reasons to let children in but are we measuring the success, or otherwise, of free entry?
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net
