365 Sporting Days

London Skolars had what has become an annual warm up match planned against London Broncos, with the date coinciding with the first round of the challenge cup and a playing surface that can take numerous games in an afternoon, The London Clash was planned.

That consisted of 3 fixtures

• London Chargers v Bridgend Blue Bulls
• London Skolars v London Broncos
• Wests Warriors v Great Britain Police

I’m writing very much after the fact so this will be more Phlog than Blog,  with a short summary of each match.

The first match was I’m afraid to say one of the most one sided I’ve watched, the scoreline was almost painful by the time the 80 minutes was up!  London Chargers scored 116 points with Bridgend Bulls failing to put a single point on the board.  In spite of that scoreline tackles were still being put in by the Welsh team right until the end of the game, and the tries still had to be scored by the Chargers.  It did feel like the officials should stop the match before it hit cricket proportions!

I imagine the journey back to Wales will have been a very long one!

Next up was the main event, London Skolars had won the Capital Challenge against a young Wigan team for the first time since the event started a few weeks before.  They similarly faced a young Broncos team.  For this one I had mixed loyalties as a season ticket holder at both clubs, a draw would have been ideal!

This was a much closer game to say the least, with both teams showing very promising form, it looks like 2017 will be a good year for rugby league in London. Several Skolars players shone, including Lamont Bryan and Eddie Mbaraga, the Broncos lads found it difficult to deal with their power.  However it was the Broncos who took the win, with the final score finishing on London Skolars 16 London Broncos 18.

This was a young Broncos team and they looked good, I’m expecting good things from both teams this season.

The cold got the better of me for the 3rd game, I didn’t make it past half time.  West Warriors are a team that brought a lot of support with them and that support was rewarded with a fine win.  Their team ran in winners with the scoreline on Wests Warriors 40 Great Britain Police 22.  Overall it was a very good day for rugby league in London and a great initiative from London Skolars.

A few more photos from the Skolars v Broncos match –