London League - Division Three South-West

Winchester 20, Old Wimbledonians 0

WINNING can become a habit, just as much as losing, as Winchester proved against their visitors to Nuns Road last Saturday.

Having won four in a row at the end of last season, the men in black and amber made it five consecutive wins with something to spare, albeit they rarely got out of second gear and didn't need to.

Defensively they were sound, but in attack they took a while to find any cohesion. However, there was enough on display to give enticing hints of what is possible in the weeks to come. Scrum half Scott Turner was here, there and everywhere in his efforts to keep Winchester going forward.

The hot weather did much to define the tempo of the game, but even at three-quarter pace the hosts' back line looked far more threatening and their forwards worked hard to clear bodies out of the way at rucks.

Tom Pervin and Alex Hayes took good lineout ball and by the interval Winchester had proved good value for their 14-0 lead. After 18 minutes, full back Dan Waddington cut through a sluggish defence to score and with Dan Kinsey converting, home supporters began to feel the season had really started.

OWs were penned in for long periods and showed little ambition in the face of Winchester's probing. As the game wore on, Andy Ashwin came into his own as he and Martin Livesey kept the side on course for victory. But the hosts had to wait till the stroke of half time to score again, when the persevering Turner burst through. Kinsey's conversion gave the scoreline a more realistic look.

Clever use of substitutions by Winchester in the second half freshened things up and gave OWs more problems than they could handle. Yet, frustratingly, it was left to Livesey to seal the win with two coolly taken drop goals when nothing seemed on.

The first, five minutes after the break and the second, ten minutes from the end, would have broken the hearts of much better opponents. It was not that OWs gave up, they just didn't have the firepower to trouble Winchester. Had the hosts been on top of their game, they would have racked up 50 points.

Playing the first game of the season in summer conditions was not conducive to quick scoring. However, the desire for success was amply demonstrated as was the team's self-belief.

The Winchester squad has a settled look about it, with an excellent blend of youth and experience. Taking over from Iain Millar at hooker in the second half, Tom Crowther played well and showed he was not afraid of hard work, an attitude which will set him and his colleagues on an upward trend. So far so good.

Head Coach, Barry Bridgman, thought his team were getting there, however slowly. "I was pleased with the win," he said.

"Our defence did very well, especially in the second half. We didn't give away any kickable penalties. But three tries went begging and we seemed a bit lethargic, possibly because of the heat. A win will do for now, though."

Team: Waddington, West (Castle 65), Ashwin, Kinsey, Ravenhill, Livesey, Turner, O'Donoghue, Millar (Crowther 40), Mort, Hayes (Shewry 60), Ettinger, Pervin, Knight, Baseley.

Winchester have another home league game tomorrow (Sept. 11th, kick-off 3pm) this time against Weybridge Vandals.