Starting line-up

1 Shannon Neyland 2 Jack Cowley 3 Richard Cowley

4 Matt Price 5 Rik Relph

6 Colin Weir 7 Ken (Rocka) Pearce 8 Eddie (Bill Bob) Murphy

9 Mark Hanman 10 Daray Horn 15 John Bateson

11 Alex (TFM) Moreau 12 Ritz Steytler 13 Antony Brown 14 Matt Turner

16 Martin Doughty 17 Graham (Beaky) Beckford 18 Rob Bevington

Manager: Nick ‘Tweety Pie’ Nicholson

Match report by Rob Bevington

We turned up short on numbers and lacking in certain positions. We had none of our usual back-row…Glove, Ren, Psycho, Bev (All Injured), Beaky (Late), meaning it was going to be tough to close down the oppo with a pack of limited mobility. We had some last minute changes, training and prayers and went out to face a Stags team consisting of 5 of their 1st Team in the starting line-up and a mixture of 2/3's across the rest of the team. It looked like it was going to be a tough match, and with Tweety Pie as Ref this proved to be the case.

From the kick-off the Stags kept the ball in the pack and raided the fringes of any ruck/maul. They then fed good ball out to their backs who were happy to attack our defensive line with well worked moves. It looked ominous and from the side-lines I feared for the 'Gades health after our recent injury list. But the clouds parted slightly to allow a mist of determination, confidence and whole-hearted bravery to descend on the entire 'Gades team.

We tackled everything they threw at us, and in the case of Shannon and Rocka threw up after tackling everything! We were valiant and dogged in our attempts, throwing our bodies at theirs and trying any means possible (including tripping by Alex TFM) to stop the onslaught. We defended strong but they were too strong for us and after 10 minutes we finally conceded to allow them their first try. They missed the conversion and the game resumed where it left off. We had very little possession in the first 30 minutes and they punished us with a further 3 tries which were all converted.

In the minutes before the half time whistle we had our best possession of the game. Two piercing runs by Darey were unlucky to not be rewarded with something and both Bill Bob and Alex were waiting for glory if we could have found that extra pass. We finished strong but went into the break 26-0 down. The thing that struck me watching from the side-lines was how beautiful the Cottenham countryside is at this time of year and the multifarious colours that consume the horizon when viewed with the setting sun reflecting off the dew-covered grass….the other thing that struck me and probably more important to this report is the improvement the majority of our players have made over the past 18 months I have played for this team. We have players who have never played before who when they started, and I'm sure I'm not being rude or unfair with this, could not tackle, did not know the rules (laws!), were positionally unsure and handling was somewhat poor. This has improved dramatically, we still do make errors (as do the All Blacks), we don't always choose the right option (neither do England) and we still lose games (so do the Bl**dy Springboks and long may this one continue).

However, we have improved in all areas. Bill Bob, great hands and distribution when mopping up loose ball. Rocka (The Mitten), great efforts at Flanker to stop the marauding Stags forwards. Paperboy, watching the ball into his hands from loose ball, and great takes in the line-outs and recycling of the ball, all under the duress of being dumped by that fit bird in Leeds! Alex TFM great line-outs and fantastic aggression in the tackle, also great positioning in chasing down the oppo from the kicks…line 'em up and hit them at the point they catch the ball!

We started the 2nd half and had to continue in our defence. We fought hard and well for the entire duration, we tried to move as a pack (not sure if this is because we were all going slow and steady) we defended as a unit and most importantly we communicated. Admittedly, I am assuming we did this last one as I spent the majority of the time shouting and hopefully encouraging from the touchline. We only let in 1 try in the 2nd half, which tells a story in itself. They were a fitter, stronger and in certain areas younger team than we were but we matched them in most areas for the shorter 2nd half of this game. Shannon put not only his body but also nearly his life on the line when he got knocked off his feet backwards….no mean feat to get 20stone in the air! Ritz nearly lost his shoulder, but more importantly if he had, he might have lost the chip on that shoulder at being a Bok!

Points I noted:
JB - Superb work at Full Back, running and kicking out of defence. Great cover when they broke through.
Colin - Great effort and work rate being the most mobile forward you had a lot of ground to cover.
Front 5 - Great efforts against a strong, well trained pack, we won our share of scrums and line outs.
Backs - Great defence from all of you, covering each other and drifting when needed to force them out wide.

It was a really impressive performance, in a game that we were never going to win. They had to bolster their team to ensure they got the victory. But they were honest about it and were using it as a run-out for their players. We should have no problem facing teams like this or even better, as long as they know what type of team we are, we can take any level of opposition and if we can't win, we can at least give them some obstacles and on occasion give them difficulties of our own to test their defence as we did on Saturday. Really proud of you all, good effort and can't wait to be back playing in 3 weeks.

"And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day" - Sam Vail

"What can be said about today's performance a big 'f'ing' welldone! We've beat this team on 2 previous occasions but it took 5 first team players and a couple of their 2's to beat us ,it shows that although they play league rugby, some 5 leagues above what we would have entered ,that we have the BOLLUCKS to never give in, no man of the match, there were 17 of you. Although we got beat 33 - 0, you all performed exceptionally, especially those who played in unfamiliar positions, billbob, the mitten and the dancing queen from Leeds!" - Nick (Ref)

"It was a great performance against a very strong reinforced team and despite the defeat it'll have put some valuable experience in the bank for those who maybe haven't played as much or were trying out new positions. Well done Rocka who showed massive progress in fitness from the beginning of the season and seemed to enjoy back row play. Alex showed pace and aggression, Billbob and Shannon took a couple of big hits and got up for more; Shannon's actually perked him up. It's great that despite the injury crisis we still got a strong team out and the club goes from strength to strength." - Flora

"I enjoyed the game even though my shoulder today feels like someone tried to sever it from my body with an axe. I thought the tackling was awesome, JB was a lifesaver at the back covering as much ground as he did. Also the forwards, you held up really well against a much stronger pack. Rocka, Colin both of you did great at backrow, picking the ball up at the right time and giving it to Mark whilst the scrum was swinging and dancing the way it was saved us a few points, or at least I believe so. One person I didn't mention in my previous post, was Darey's 2 or 3 stunning runs, which in fairness should have given us tries, it was BAD luck at least twice that saw us not scoring from his breaks." - Ritz

Try

Penalty

Conversion

Drop Goal

Nominations