Saturday, 13th September 2025.
The second instalment of the social section’s Saturday afternoon came with the Bandits adventuring to Westcombe Park, and despite the best efforts of South London traffic a hearty and strong squad assembled in Orpington to round out the fourth fixture of the day for the Mens’ teams.
The sun managed to shine through as the team prepared, inspirational words were shared on the importance of the day, and the match for the club, but as Captain James Pierson reminded all, the immediate focus was on the Park team.
The first few minutes were a scrappy exchange as both sides got to grips with ball and each other, a couple of early penalties moved Park down the field and they converted their first entry into the bandits 22 to an early try, and conversion.
The Bandits soon got the measure of the physical Park team, and the match settled into a midfield battle, with the forwards beginning to establish a real presence at both scrum and line-out. By the 25th minute that presence was starting to swing the game, and a stolen line out lead to a break into the Park 22. Strong work by the forwards on the left created space for some quick hands out to the right wing allowing Cormac McMahon to run in for the try.
Park continued their direct assault on the Bandits defensive line, as a succession of drive from their back row required tough tackling by the Bandits. Unfortunately as the clock ticked towards the halfway point the Bandits wall was breached and Park drove in a second try. The halftime score of 14 – 5 not truly reflecting the Bandits presence in the match.
The second half started positively for the Bandits, a scrum won direct from the kick off was dominated by the forwards and quick cross field ball allowed Jonny Moore to touchdown under the posts. The departure of a couple of the Park battering rams at half time had increased the Bandits authority in the forwards and four minutes later another scrum was won on the right, on halfway, again quick hands moved the ball over to the left wing allowing Moore to again score under the posts. These two converted tries moved the score to 14 – 19 in the Bandits favour, and with the sun shining the mood in team was buoyant.
However it seemed the Park side hadn’t read their copy of the script, and they refused to give in, running in another, converted, try to regain the lead.
The ebb and flow in midfield, resumed with Park continuing the direct approach at every opportunity, but when they spilt a short pass on the halfway Juve Iragaba was able to chase down his own kick through and score on the left wing, easing the Bandits into the lead once again. Minutes later Alex Omeyer, possibly inspired by Juve’s try, chipped the Park defence on their own 22, and ran through to score, moving the Bandits into a 10 point lead.
Tiredness from the heat of surprisingly sunny afternoon and the physicality of the match was taking it’s toll on both teams discipline and there were some tense moments, resolved by sound captaincy on both sides, and some gentle direction from the Referee. Entering the final ten minutes it looked set to be a easy finish for the Bandits when another midfield scrum was dominated by the forwards giving the backs scope to move the ball through the hands and allowing Omeyer to take in his second try, and establish a 17 point lead.
Park continued their physical assault on the Bandits line, and when a Bandit was given his marching orders for going off his feet at the ruck the stress levels started to creep up, especially when Park rapidly took advantage of their numbers to drive in another try to reduce the deficit to 10 points. But that was to be the last score, drained by their own physicality, and with discipline in danger of breaking down Park were unable to make any real headway in the final 5, despite their numbers (even with 16 at one brief moment! ) and the Bandits resolve held for a comfortable 28 – 38 victory, with both sets of players having enjoyed a great afternoon of social rugby in the sunshine, with the torrential rain waiting until they retired for well earned refreshments. Park were gracious in defeat, and fine opponents sending their compliments to the Bandit back line for the speed and efficiency of handling.
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