By Dom Benson
April 25 2002

Army found the barmy night at the Stoop to their advantage. They all but won the match in the first quarter mixing combative forwards play with swift handling and some bold running. By the end, however, Wasps had regrouped sufficiently well to almost steal it in the closing minutes Army posted their intentions right from the off. Winning the scrap from their own kick off they drove forward to the posts before releasing the openside flanker who scored within two minutes.
After a preiod of pressure by Wasps, Army turned defence swiftly into attack. A lineout following a penalty was driven on and one of their locks stole through a gap to score after a crucial first up tackle was missed. Before the opening quarter had finished they had repeated the trick to go 21-0 up.

Matt Leek opened Wasps account with a penalty goal as a drive petered out but minutes later the omens looked ominous when Joe Beardshaw was sinbinned for pulling down at the lineout - the Gat call for aggression is clearly spreading. Army quickly added a penalty goal following another incursion into our territory.

The half ended on a brighter note for Wasps as they drove a lineout over, even without Bearders, to complete the scoring. A final Wasps press right on half-time was repelled by Army to maintain their 24-10 lead.

This proved to be their saving grace - we almost clawed our way back to take the lead in the second half. The opening act was repeated, this time Bearders snaffled the restart. Harvey Biljon, back from his travels, released our backs to the right before a pass inside opened up a path to the line.

Army responded in kind, sucking in our defence before hitting the right hand channel to restore their 14 point advantage. Wasps found their stride again, upping the pace and then hitting Army with our props rumbling forward with a full head of steam. Ali McKenzie powered through a maul to score.

Sensing Army were tiring Will Wigram and John Rudd combined to good effect and made it to within a metre of the line. Some more quickfire rucking gave Biljon the opportunity to take a quick tap-penalty and suddenly Wasps were back on equal terms.

Army played their trump card though, on came their Fijian Sevens expert at fullback, jinking though gaps and skinning every wasp on the park. One such move was stopped just short of our posts by McKenzie of all players but Army had the platform to set up their final try, again via the right wing. A second penalty by Coen gave them an unassailable 41-31 lead.

To our credit we blocked a late drop goal attempt and stormed upfield to end the scoring. 41-38 to Army - both teams have some work to do on their defences but the top brass were reasonably happy. Teaboy, Worzle, Greatballs and others looked on alongside an intense Gats - contracts are in the air - which of our younguns will make it?