Worth Waiting For

We love it when a plan comes together Saturday was one of those great days, the sun shining hard on Orrholmen the stand packed and plenty of supporters (reports of 150 plus), the oldboys showing up early and the pups in Norway.

If it was horse racing the going would have been described as good to heavy in patches, the recent downpours and overuse of the pitch had left its mark and the normally immaculate orrholmen was beginning to waterlog and was very heavy on the legs.

A very determined and pumped squad left the dressing room ready to take on our nearest neighbor and most hotly contested games of the last few seasons, something in this game no matter how bad or good things are going for either club you are guaranteed a scrap of epic proportions on the pitch.
KRK started brightly and showed some good early hands but a few poor decisions and some good defending saw that the first few attempts to cross the line didn’t succeed. Orebro took heart from this and started to press us back but our pack was early out of the block to prove they were up for the battle. When it comes to Orebro they are always going to have a ferocious and heavy pack so it was vital we matched them in the early exchanges, I felt we not only matched them but began to turn it in our favour.

We got a penalty about 15 mins on the clock everyone in Karlstad but me wanted to kick for 3 points, but thankfully my boot obliged. We pressed on from this and started to stretch their backline a bit more and had it not been for a bit of suspect tackling techniques we may have broke the line again but instead we knocked on and returned possession to Orebro. 2 minutes later we finally crossed the white line and it was a great try across the board, the forwards pounding the Orebro pack and gained meter after meter, some great training ground pick and go’s followed by quick ball from tobbe to Markus who played an excellent miss one to Dave, Dave passed me in and ran support outside putting out a great shout for the return ball and making me look good, a pop pass  saw him go into the space to go over in the corner, I converted what I find the least pressured kicks of them all out on the touchline or thereabouts.

Credit where its due Orebro took up the gauntlet and came right back at us before we even regained composure we found ourselves pegged back to 7 points and Their resident South African Adrian was the thorn in our side again with 6 minutes left in the half making a run from deep to collect a ruck ball and cross the line virtually unopposed the same man converted well from a tricky angle.Some of our old habits started to raise their ugly heads we were losing our composure maybe focusing on the ref more than we should have, getting involved in little stupid scuffles and simply not playing with our heads screwed on. We got another penalty with 2 minutes to go and unfortunately I put it a little left of the post from 35 meters, but it did bring a conclusion to the first half.

A more focused and determined Karlstad took the pitch for the last 40 minutes and we dominated the second half from start to finish. We began to really show the benefits of the last few weeks training with solid smart decisions all round the park. We had around 12 minutes on the clock when it is certain David Hanley crossed the line for the second time in the game, only to be adjudged to have been held up. I found this turning point of the game, a decision like that in recent matches may have sent us to a bit of melt down for ten minutes and in a game this close would have been very costly but not at all we held or tongues and put our game heads back on. I missed a very kickable penalty at this point in the game which would normally have added to our woes but we reacted by crossing the line, a nice bit of opportunism from father time Tobbe Johansson spotting a gap and forcing his way over the line out by the corner, missed conversion. We made a couple of substitutions at around this point Robin entered the fray and kevin came on to replace Johan hasslevall who again had another fine game and seems to be soaking up all the training he has come a long way in a few months and there is plenty of improving in him still which bodes well for the club to have young guys who want to learn coming though.

We picked up another gear and really started to open huge gaps in the Orebro defense and our superior fitness was beginning to show, we should have crossed the line again but a bit of poor handling from us saw us return possession through a knock forward and buy Orebro a bit of breathing space. But within five minutes we were home and dry the pack who were fantastic as a unit drove on and Ragge was the man carrying the ball over the whitewash at the end of a great pack drive.Another missed kick and my final contribution of the day and was happy to make way for Roger Nordin who has become a great addition to the squad and another evergreen oldboy. We were the victors with 6 minutes left on the clock and we really played very smart for the last few minutes to keep possession and see out the game for a well earned victory.

It was a great game to be involved in and from what I gather a great game to watch I imagine our coach is very happy to see the training ground moves and tactics start to become part of what we do on the pitch, I felt we were confident with and without the ball and everyone was so up for it which was just fantastic.
A massive thank you to Orebro for not only fulfilling the fixture but bringing a solid squad that gave us a right battle, some stand out players for them were Pete at number ten and Adrian at number 6 (I think)

Now to our stars, the reality is the team was fantastic we have finally displayed we are not only willing to learn what we are being told in training but we are also capable of pulling it off. The forwards were superb today knowing they were the key to a win, but the backline was really motoring yesterday great hands, great support and in general it was joy to play there, from Marcus’s decision making to Dave and Sefton looking like a very lethal centre pairing again and for me you look good when you have good players around you making you play better and act smarter.

I think the papers have mentioned him already and I will add to it Roffe had a fabulous game and has without doubt cemented the fullback position (as long as he keeps training of course) . Kevin had good attributes catching the high ball and ran some fine angles, but was lacking physically and off the boot and doesn’t always make the smart choice, I was the opposite to kevin except,  physically fine and good of the boot but disgraceful under a high ball and tended to run the obvious lines. In roffe the club has the complete package he is physically strong and willing to take and give hits, he has unbelievable composure, his hands are great and his decision making is second to none add to that a very accurate boot. But he isn’t my man of the match because I saw this in Roffe from day one and expect him to be as good as he was yesterday all the time.

Other players who maybe stood out a bit were Ragge who played at the tempo you expect of him Robin added urgency when he was on the pitch and it was definitely a boost for the team to have big bad Alex Durand back in the Karlstad jersey, plus Tervell was up at the level we expect of him as well. I cant name everyone but everyone contributed in a major way and it was the most complete team performance since we were beaten by a point to Attila at home 2 seasons ago.

But my man of the match has to go to Eamonn McCallion. Truth is he played superb yesterday and the reason he gets the nod is he not only led us forward on so many occasions and the metres he gained were superb most times he acted as a bus service for a few Orebro passengers when he was off on one, add to that he was making the kickers in the teams look bad with his jonnie Wilkinson impressions, one or two were prop standard but it’s the other one he chased down and reclaimed the ball from an up and under. But he showed total heart and passion from start to finish and to his credit he shut his mouth and concentrated on the game playing the best rugby he has since arriving at KRK especially in the second half. So O’Neill’s coveted golden beanbag goes to the big man McCallion this week.

One other note of praise must go to Thierry who has been drilling us very well in recent training and we have finally been rewarding him by showing up in force on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but for me the speech he gave last Thursday had me pumped to the point I could barely sleep waiting for kick off and again by the rousing before the game, you’re efforts are appreciate by all us players.

Squad: 1. Eamonn McCallion, 2. Lars-olof Leander, 3. Björn Larsson, 4. Daniel Svensson, 5. Ragge Karlsson (5pts), 6. Johan Tervell, 7. Maake Fakaosifolau, 8. Alex Durand, 9. Tobbe Johansson (5pts), 10. Markus Nyren, 11. Johan Hasslevall, 12. Sefton Fong, 13. David Hanley (5pts), 14. Eric O’Neill (5pts), 15. Roffe Jakobsson
Res: Eric Ceder (unused), Robin Klementz (40 min), Kevin Anderson(60 min), Roger Nordin (74 min).

To finish the pups were in Norway and one of our own seniors was there and from reports (which were received by a worse for wear O’Neill, so excuse any misinformation) I hear they did this club beyond proud with their showing in the tournament, managing a fine group stage victory and fair play award, we look forward to playing along side you guys in the very near future. Thanks to Aaron and Tony for making this happen and the parents who helped out also.

The Non playing acknowledgments:

To Gunbritt and Lena for fabulous food and ensuring the public were well fed, same to Josefine who manned the bar all day and also to the others like linnea (I am sorry if I missed any names) who helped out and of course Gabriel the little legend who was an incredible help yesterday in the cleanup and errands after and before the game

To conclude a huge thank you to Markus for putting together another great party and another big thank you to Eamonn who went the extra mile on a lot of occasions this week and especially last night with the final clean up and the food.

Last but not least to be thanked the public, the 16th man to see so many people down to watch a sport that most people don’t even know exists is major driving force for us on the park.

I did open NWT today to see how far coverage of us has fallen, we get our score printed, and a guy shooting a plastic badger with a bow and arrow gets an entire page it had to have been harder to find that guy than take a stroll over to Orrholmen. So thanks again to VF for showing a continued interest and highlighting our fine sport when we play

But nothing but positives on Saturday from start with the oldboys meeting up, a great win for the seniors and the juniors having a fine a showing in Norway and to finish an excellent get together with great food, company and atmosphere. What a great wee club we have!!.