Warriors vs Wasps - Match Review
By Zippy
September 24 2004
London Wasps vs Celtic Warriors, Sunday 11th February, The Causeway Stadium, High Wycombe. Remember this day, a great win for the Warriors
By Zippy
September 24 2004
London Wasps vs Celtic Warriors, Sunday 11th February, The Causeway Stadium, High Wycombe. Remember this day, a great win for the Warriors
I arrived at Bridgend Clubhouse at 845am armed with a Wales on Sunday, 8 cans of fosters and a pack of pickled onion monster munch. I was still feeling the effects of sitting through the entire 3.5 hours of LOTR: Return of the King from the previous night. Yes it is good but yes it does last that long.
Various characters amassed at the club, my favourite being the drunk who strolled over wearing a short sleeved shirt and carrying a half empty (half full) bottle of Jack Daniels.
The Bus trip itself was pretty uneventful there was a services stop at Reading (Why we stopped I don't know it was only another 3/4hr till we arrived) anyway I was starving and went to Burger King, they did not sell any beef due to a technical fault. A Hot Chicken burger hit the spot.
We arrived at the Causeway, I had begun to feel the effects alcohol but I remember it being sunny. There was still 2 hours till kick-off so I hit the "Centre Spot" Bar for refreshment.
THE GAME
I was very drunk by kick off and went in the wrong entrance, I managed just to take my place on the terrace before kick-off, get a "No To Merger" Banner and buy an overpriced pint of Heineken from a handily placed beer seller.
Game Highlights (Taken From The BBC)
Wasps were stunned by the early ferocity of the Warriors' tackling and for the first quarter of the match struggled to make any headway.
Every time one of the home players received the ball he found at least two fired-up Welshmen in his face, which was particularly uncomfortable for Wasps' own Welshman at scrum-half - Rob Howley.
Sweeney managed to convert two out of three of his first-half penalty chances to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead at half-time.
Wasps at last gained some reward eight minutes after the break, when Alex King booted a penalty after Howley was hauled back chasing a Sweeney kick he charged down.
But the Welsh loose trio of Richard Parks, Maama Molitika and Cory Harris were becoming increasingly influential, while Cockbain continued his good line-out work.
Sweeney and King exchanged penalties, before King potted his third kick of the night to leave the score level with nine minutes remaining.
Then came the game's defining moment, when Warriors full-back Wyatt put through the sweetest of grubber kicks for wing Havili to gather and score in the corner.
Sweeney missed the difficult conversion and a long-range penalty, but the tackling never faltered and Wasps ended still trying to find a way out of their own half.
I was so excited by the try I jumped up and down and knocked my half full (half empty) pint over, bit gutted though I soon got over it!
After Match
The hundreds of Warriors supporters on the terrace enjoyed a great afternoon. Chants of "Ole ole ole Warriors" kept on for entire match. The Warriors team came back on the field to salute the travelling support.
I made my way to the De Vere bar which we were now allowed into and the fans enjoyed more beer. The players came into the bar to pose for photos, special thanks must go to Trevor Leota and Alfie who stood around for ages and talked and posed for every fan who wanted them too.
Later on I was far too drunk to remember anything except we had WON!!!
Match Positives:
Defence - To sum up the strength of the defence, one bloke told a story of how he went to the car park after the match and saw Dallagio head in hands in his car, they tapped on the window to ask what the matter was, he replied "We have to play those f*****s again next week!"
Support - Both in terms of vocal and numbers, this must surely put an end to all merger talk.
This ranks as a one of the great Welsh club victories and I would encourage every one of you to get to the Brewery Field on Friday
Various characters amassed at the club, my favourite being the drunk who strolled over wearing a short sleeved shirt and carrying a half empty (half full) bottle of Jack Daniels.
The Bus trip itself was pretty uneventful there was a services stop at Reading (Why we stopped I don't know it was only another 3/4hr till we arrived) anyway I was starving and went to Burger King, they did not sell any beef due to a technical fault. A Hot Chicken burger hit the spot.
We arrived at the Causeway, I had begun to feel the effects alcohol but I remember it being sunny. There was still 2 hours till kick-off so I hit the "Centre Spot" Bar for refreshment.
THE GAME
I was very drunk by kick off and went in the wrong entrance, I managed just to take my place on the terrace before kick-off, get a "No To Merger" Banner and buy an overpriced pint of Heineken from a handily placed beer seller.
Game Highlights (Taken From The BBC)
Wasps were stunned by the early ferocity of the Warriors' tackling and for the first quarter of the match struggled to make any headway.
Every time one of the home players received the ball he found at least two fired-up Welshmen in his face, which was particularly uncomfortable for Wasps' own Welshman at scrum-half - Rob Howley.
Sweeney managed to convert two out of three of his first-half penalty chances to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead at half-time.
Wasps at last gained some reward eight minutes after the break, when Alex King booted a penalty after Howley was hauled back chasing a Sweeney kick he charged down.
But the Welsh loose trio of Richard Parks, Maama Molitika and Cory Harris were becoming increasingly influential, while Cockbain continued his good line-out work.
Sweeney and King exchanged penalties, before King potted his third kick of the night to leave the score level with nine minutes remaining.
Then came the game's defining moment, when Warriors full-back Wyatt put through the sweetest of grubber kicks for wing Havili to gather and score in the corner.
Sweeney missed the difficult conversion and a long-range penalty, but the tackling never faltered and Wasps ended still trying to find a way out of their own half.
I was so excited by the try I jumped up and down and knocked my half full (half empty) pint over, bit gutted though I soon got over it!
After Match
The hundreds of Warriors supporters on the terrace enjoyed a great afternoon. Chants of "Ole ole ole Warriors" kept on for entire match. The Warriors team came back on the field to salute the travelling support.
I made my way to the De Vere bar which we were now allowed into and the fans enjoyed more beer. The players came into the bar to pose for photos, special thanks must go to Trevor Leota and Alfie who stood around for ages and talked and posed for every fan who wanted them too.
Later on I was far too drunk to remember anything except we had WON!!!
Match Positives:
Defence - To sum up the strength of the defence, one bloke told a story of how he went to the car park after the match and saw Dallagio head in hands in his car, they tapped on the window to ask what the matter was, he replied "We have to play those f*****s again next week!"
Support - Both in terms of vocal and numbers, this must surely put an end to all merger talk.
This ranks as a one of the great Welsh club victories and I would encourage every one of you to get to the Brewery Field on Friday
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