Richmond 13 Rosslyn Park 28

Clearly smarting from defeat in this fixture last season, Rosslyn Park produced a first 10 minutes of almost frightening skill and intensity to lead 15-0 before Richmond really knew what had hit them.

It is immensely to the credit of the home team that they had the wherewithal to stay together, ride out the storm, and pick themselves up to make a match of it, albeit a match with only one likely outcome.

Park kicked off to the visitors, but soon turned over possession and played as many phases as it took (someone suggested 19 – your reporter wasn’t counting) without the home side being able to get a hand on the ball, to get close to the line.

A pass to the left found Adam Gates popping up in intelligent support, his strength enough to comfortably take him over.

Ross Laidlaw added a superb wide conversion for 7-0 after three minutes.

Back came Park, Richmond were forced to concede penalties and up popped Laidlaw to nail the first kickable one to make it 10-0.

Another Park attack was stopped when they made a forward pass, but relentlessly they forced Richmond off their own scrummage ball and scrum-half Allen Chilten hared towards the line.

He was stopped, but not before flinging out a pass to put winger James Strong in at the corner for 15-0 after only nine minutes.

If a cricket score looked on the cards, no one told plucky Richmond.

The visiting defence denied them any sort of proper platform, and they were out-gunned in the scrum, but they managed to cause a few problems with some pretty effective sniping.

Park were beginning to conceded penalties. The first, an offside almost from kick-off, gave Matt Hart three points and then another five minutes later saw the Richmond skipper kick his side back to 6–15.

The visitors responded with a massive attack. Just as a score looked inevitable a clearance kick from Hart took play from his own 22 to a line out in the visitors’ 22 on the opposite side of the field.

Park cleared, but Richmond had fouled the kicker and so – cruelly for them – the penalty was taken from where the ball landed: inside their half and in front of the posts.

Up stepped Laidlaw to make it 18-6 after 29 minutes.

Richmond nearly landed a rare breakaway, but were not quick enough to recycle possession when confronted with Park’s tigerish tackling and were pinged for not releasing.

Park looked far more likely to score, their best chances coming from a fine run through the middle by Anthony Fenner, stopped when the pass to the player on the decisive overlap was (correctly) called forward, and then Allen Chilten – in a similar position – again threw it forward.

Come the interval, Park’s coaches will probably have been slightly disappointed to have got off to such a start but to still be two tries away from their first bonus point of the season.

The visitors started the second half as they had the first, building relentless pressure.

The pack drove Richmond back for several metres before releasing the ball to look for an opening. After probing the left, the ball came back to Laidlaw who brilliantly lobbed a soccer-style throw-in to the right, over the heads of a couple of home defenders, for Strong to score his second for 23-6 after only three minutes play.

Park swept back on the attack, gaining an attacking line out in the home 22 but stupidly conceded the advantage and a free kick by not moving backwards when the referee asked them to.

Richmond refused to lie down and produced a good counter-attack but were again penalised as Park’s excellent defending caused them to play at the edge of what they were capable of.

The visitors again came storming back and made a break. It was a scene beloved of rugby crowds, where the man with the ball – in this case Mark Lock - is a forward who, seeing no defender in front of him, feels obliged to give it his best shot at a sprint, but is bound to be caught and brought down by a far smaller, faster defender.

However, in this case Lock had the last laugh, showing great dexterity when caught, giving a perfect pass in the tackle to Alex Cadwallader who knew no such constraints on pace and scooted in at the corner for 28-6.

Richmond still did not give up. Twice they hammered penalties into the Park 22 but simply could not breach an outstanding defensive wall.

Park also wanted more, a good attack being stopped for a penalty to allow Richmond to clear. However, Park stole the ball from the line out and rumbled into the home 22.

Twice Park tried to break and each time they knocked on. On the second occasion, as a Richmond player broke with the ball, scrum-half Chilten tripped him and the referee did not hesitate in showing the yellow card.

At the next scrummage, Park withdrew lock Simon Etheredge to bring on replacement scrum half Graham Barr.

Richmond threw everything they had against Park, almost going in at the corner but for a knock on. Park’s 14 men were thrown into desperate defence with the clock showing 40 minutes, and Morgan Jones was yellow carded leaving Park with 13 men and no flanker.

Unfortunately, they had not practised any Rugby League defensive drills and Phipps was bundled over by Richmond for a try, Hart adding an outstanding touchline conversion for 13-28.

Park were able to bring on replacement lock Adam Slade as a flanker, and safely saw out more than 11 minutes of added time before claiming a fine victory.

Park:Fenner; Strong, Sweeney, O’Driscoll (Cannon), Cadwallader; Huggett, Ritchie, Collier (Dawson); Gates, A Jones; M Jones, Etheredge, Lock.

Replacement not used: Blemings

Park scorers: Strong (2T), Gates (T), Cadwallader (T), Laidlaw (2P, C)