Starting line-up

1 Rik Relph 2 Graham Beckford 3 Shannon Neyland

4 Matt Price 5 Ken (Rocka) Pearce

6 Colin Weir 7 Ritz Steytler8 Rob (Cinderella) Bevington

9 Chris Beddow 10 Darey Horn 15 Matt Turner

11 Eddie (BillBob) Murphy 12 Jay Hall 13 Anthony Brown 14 Gary Craggs

Subsitutes: 16 Richard Cowley 17 John Bateson 18 Carl (ZigZag) Goodey 19 Alex (TFM) Moreau

Manager: Nick (Tweety Pie) Nicholson

Match report by Rob Bevington

We arrived at the College to see we had a good turnout with a number of players to choose from and a selection for the subs bench. Unfortunately, our joy at our numbers was compromised by the sighting of the size of their team, containing probably the largest pack AND backs of the season, plus about 12 subs!

We were struggling from the off with a few injuries, Rik's ribs were re-injured in double quick time. Ritz having complained about his back before kicking off was then chosen to be lifted (or dropped) in the lineout. Why we decided that one of the heaviest players would be an ideal jumper is still not clear to me! The dropping of Ritz in the pre-match practice was enough to take his mind off his back as his now twisted ankle was a much more painful injury concern!

We set up to start the game and it soon became apparent that it was going to be a defensive 80 minutes for us. We were pushed for the first few scrums but then a few technical pointers from Beaky meant we could control the wheeling and gain more control to win a share of the scrums. We were a bit slow to react to their quick attacks off the back of the scrums and from the breakdown and Mildenhall put a couple of tries on the board.

We managed to get 3 points on the board from Darey's boot but were struggling to stop the constant attacks from Forwards and Backs even though we were putting in 5 tackles for every one of theirs. When we tackled we would stop them but frequently they would offload and start the rampage again. We need to tackle lower and make sure we stop the player and the ball every time. We were shown to be cumbersome and lazy in the forwards at getting to the breakdown by Mildenhall's superior fitness.

After a long hard half they had put about 4 tries past us and we were tired and beaten. We decided that we must use the second half as a new game and put in the hard work that would pay us dividends in future games. So began a long and hard fought 40 minutes where we proved that we had heart and determination to save our pride.

During the second half a few more injuries were produced. Rocka coming off in pain, Ant struggling on with some damage and most others having something to moan about and rub! However, the 2nd half was better, they only managed to score 5 points in the whole half with the 'Gades coming close on a couple of occasions but not quite managing to get that final pass or push to make it over the try line.

The second half was better with what seemed like constant tackling practice for us. We need to learn from the performance and try to imitate what Mildenhall were achieving. Quick to the breakdown, recycle the ball and good quick decision making as to how to use the ball to take advantage of the forwards being tied up in the ruck/maul.

It was quite a come down from the previous week's victory but with the gulf in teams in both size and ability we should not be ashamed of the performance, especially the 2nd half. We need to get back on track this weekend against Wendons and ensure we do not lose our undefeated record to them as I am sure they will want to beat us and will have a stronger more determined team than last time we met before Christmas.

Homework: There is a lot of rugby on at the moment so try to watch a full game on tv and keep your eyes on the players in your position and see how they go about their job, both offensively and defensively. However, please do not copy the England team as we would prefer to improve our performances and not play each game with 2 players in the sin-bin!

Good effort lads, need more technically but the heart is always there. No comments on email about the game which I think is a reflection in itself.

The comments are below:

"One comment only. If you don't watch those International types, watch Jay instead. Awsome tackling - great job. ?" John Bateson

"Sorry Jay and Ant, and the rest of the backs. I sometimes miss the stuff the backs do so well, so regularly, because my head is too close to Priceless/Rocka's arse! Also, great effort by Colin and Shannon." Rob Bevington

Try

Penalty

Darey Horn 1

Conversion

Drop Goal

Nominations