Teddington's unbeaten run comes to an end
Eventually it would happen, and so it was on Saturday. Teddington's incredible 46 match unbeaten streak, stretching back over 527 days finally came to an end at the hands of a powerful Old Tiffinians side.
The game was switched on Friday to the AGP at Cobham RFC due to Old Tiffs pitches being waterlogged, and with the recent wet weather finally drying up by Saturday the conditions were perfect for this much anticipated clash between first and second in the league.
The game kicked off with Old Tiffinians applying the early pressure, and despite the Antlers repelling many attempts at their line, Tiffs did manage to force their way over for an early 7-0 lead.
The build up to that try also saw the referee issue Teddington's George Bradford with a yellow card for collapsing a maul. Not an ideal start for the league leaders.
Teddington came back though, looking dangerous with ball in hand, and it looked inevitable they would cross in the left hand corner to level things up, only to see the final pass intercepted by the Tiffs No.8 who then impressively went the whole length of the field out pacing the Teddington cover defence to score at the other end. 12-0 to Tiffinians and work to do for the Antlers.
The Antlers responded quickly with lock Callum Johnston going over in the corner and soon after Teddy Gibson scored to bring the scores level at 12-12 at half time.
When Bob Beevers converted Antlers try machine Max AITKEN's early second half try to take the score out to 12-19 to Teddington it looked the like the unbeaten record was well on the way to being defended yet again, but Old Tiffinians were no ordinary opponent, and they continued to apply pressure, looking for chinks in the Antlers defence.
Going into the last 15 minutes and the pressure was really building, with the Old Tiffs pack starting to get the upper hand, with the scrums an area of particular dominance for the hosts.
Huw Morgan was yellow carded for a high tackle in midfield, Tiffs then got back on level terms, and a few moments later the relentless pressure resulted in Stuart Ridler joining him in the sin bin for cynical play.
Tiffs then forced their way over to take a 26-19 lead, with seemingly no way back for the 13 man visitors with only 7 minutes to play.
But incredibly from the kick off Teddington then turned the screw on their opponents, employing an effective pick and go strategy.
Teddy Gibson made huge yardage up the middle taking out numerous Old Tiffinian players en route before Olly Holland went under the posts giving Beevers an easy shot to level things up at 26-26 with 90 seconds to go.
Morgan came back from the sin bin bringing the Antlers up to 14 and the prospect of rescuing a dramatic draw.
The drama though hadn't quite finished as Tiffs won a penalty 30 yards out and opted to go for the sticks with the last kick of the game.
The Old Tiffinians full back was the coolest man on the park, as he stepped up to dissect the uprights.
A memorable game and a deserved victory for Old Tiffinians. The unbeaten record has gone, but it will go down in the clubs history books as one of the greatest periods of success.
For now, there are 5 games to go to ensure the league is won and promotion is gained and Teddington remain in the box seat to do just that.
Final Score: Old Tiffinians RFC 29 Teddington RFC 26.
Man of the Match: Huw Morgan.
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