Old Wheatleyans 25 – 23 Coventrians
The Chatwin Show
The Wheats hosted this year’s Clayton Flick Memorial Trophy & were keen for revenge following defeat earlier in season when Covents kicked a penalty in the last minute to steal the win.
Some slight tinkering with the side from the previous week saw Joe Loach come back into the starting line up following a few weeks absence. With Adam Brittain being a massive homosexual let-down, Ben Weaver returned to the 7 shirt following a 2 week injury lay off. With old men’s aliments keeping JK sidelined, Rubery moved upto 12 and Steve Hexall made his league debut on the wing.
The Vice-Presidents looked forward to a flowing game of rugby (just like it used to be back in the day!), but with a strong wind blowing at the Stade it was always going to be a game of two halves.
The Wheats won the toss & cleverly opted to use the elements in the first half. The game got underway & the Wheats started brightly enough. The lineout was looking good & the scrum was solid – as it should have been with a front 4 weighting in at over 80 stone. The Wheats first chance of points came following a penalty award that was kicked to into the corner, all that was needed was a simple catch & drive – big Adonnis JW however decided to launch a hand grenade over the Wheats jumpers & Covents cleared their lines. With pressure mounting the first points soon came with a well struck penalty 3-0.
Both sides were making mistakes but the Wheats certainly looked the more dangerous, especially with Birchy dancing round his opposite number with ease (mostly thanks to some well timed, slightly off target, slow service from his scrum-half). The Wheats finally crossed the line, following some pressure up front the backs got some half decent ball & made it count. Conversion good, 10-0, things were looking good for the Wheats, Joe Loach was rampaging with ball hand & was unlucky not to see his chip and chase rewarded with at least a couple of points for effort. The opposition were struggling to deal with Joe, the Loach Bosh making good yardage as always – it’s a real crowd pleaser when he stops to allow an opponent a second / third attempt at taking him down only to re-bosh them.
Unfortunately, some sloppy defending down the blind side saw the Cov Tech Skipper make good ground for Covents & against the run of play & following a forward pass Covents registered 5 to make it 10-5. However the Wheats refused the let their heads go down & responded well. Whilst the scrums were now starting to struggle with the Covents wheel, the lineout got back on course following an earlier blip – James McShame & Casper were taking some great ball at 2 & 4 respectively. Good ruck ball allowed the Wheats to run a DSP and Brett showed good strength to just dot down over the line for his second, again conversion good. 17-5.
With half time approaching Covents were lucky to intercept in their own half & run in a try to make it 17-10 at the whistle.
Not a great lead to turn around into the wind and defend, but the Wheats showed spirit and again started the second half the brighter side. However, some further sloppy defending down the blind side saw Covents score an easy try to make it 17-15.
The Wheats struggled to clear their lines after this, some poor decisions and kicking kept Covents in the Wheats half until Birchy and Brett linked well just outside their own 22 and Brett showed true gas to beat the Covents dangerous winger and full back to complete his hatrick. Disappointingly off-target with the conversion, 22-15. Vomit followed not long after.
Covents maintained pressure and somehow ended up with a 3 on 3 in the corner, this would not have been an issue but the Wheats 3 were all front row! 22-20 – Game on!
It looked like Wheats hearts would once again be broken in the dying minutes when Covents kicked a penalty to take them in front for the first time in the game with the clock ticking down. Surely the Wheats could not loose 7 league games in one season in the dying minutes? From the re-start the Wheats chased hard & Macca forgot to allow the opposition to catch the ball before taking him out. Whoops!
The Wheats regained possession at the resultant lineout and made their way down the field, the referee finally picked up on the Covents off-side line & the Wheats had a shot a goal to re-take the lead. Pressure on, Brett stood up to take the opportunity and dissected the sticks to make 25-23. The Wheats ran down the clock and were relieved to hear the final whistle go. A deserved win against the side placed third in the league, a sterling effort upfront supported by some quick skilful back play.
So the Trophy returned to the Wheats following a hard fought but enjoyable game of rugby.
Timetable for remainder of the season:
- The side look forward to a friendly this week (April 07.04.07)
- 14th April: Last league game of the season.
- 21st April: Friendly – opposition tbc.
- End of Season Dinner on 05 May 2007
- Earlsdon 7’s on 12 May 2007,
- A gentlemens evening with Scott Quinnel on 06 June 2007
- The AGM on 07 June 2007.
DOTD: A few contenders again this week: AB for letting down all his mates, his club, & rugby itself, but more importantly letting himself down. Gillam for charging round at scrum claiming he thought he saw a hand & the ball (& for being Gillam). Brett for missing a conversion & vomming. McShame for knocking on at least a dozen times. But the winner is ……………. Drury – for not being available due to ………… going to watch a boy band. Gayer. This comes a close 2nd to his excuse earlier in the season that he couldn’t play as he was having his hair cut.
MOTM: Birchy stood out again, controlled the game well & between him & Casper never gave the Covents 10 a look in. Joe Loach was exceptional in the loose but this weeks MOTM goes to Brett for his 25 point haul – a near perfect performance(?).
****** Player Ratings ******
- Andy H: 7/10. Srummaged superbly & led the rolling mauls from the front.
- Jas: 7/10. JW’s accuracy at the lineout is improving week on week – although the odd one still goes off radar!
- Scan: 7/10: Moved to 2nd row after 20 mins & helped solidify the scrum. Hungry for ball in hand & worked hard all day. A great way to celebrate his 38th b’day – there’s plenty of life left in the old dog yet!
- McShame: 7/10. Had another stormer, especially in the lineout where he achieved what AB usually fails at in winning more than his fair share of ball against the Covents 2 jumper.
- Joe Loach: 8/10. Made the difference between the 2 sets of forwards with his presence in the loose.
- Si H: 7/10. Had a stormer in the first 30 putting in some big dumps but was unlucky to get tickled on the head and had to leave the field at half time.
- Casper: 7/10. Made his debut at 4 in the lineout & secured himself a job for life! His speed around the park was superb.
- Macca: 7/10. Played a blinder a nr 8, trying to tidy up the messy scrum ball wherever possible & leading the defensive line.
- Dean: 5/10. Left passing skills at home this week & never really got going. Spark missing.
- Birchy: 7.5/10: Dancing feet troubled the opposition all day.
- Matt Brown: 6.5/10: Looked introuble early doors when his opposite nr left him standing, but recovered well & kept the flyer quiet for the remainder of the game. Knocked on like a donkey in midfield.
- Rubery: 6.5/10: Boozed up the night before. When his head is in the game is superb – if he focused for 80mins would be truly dangerous!
- Brett:
Scored all the Wheats points this week:
9.5/10, but:
-1 for dropping the ball in midfield.
-0.5 for missing a conversion wide on the left.
-0.5 for leaving the field to vom.
-1.5 for passing out in the ladies toilets.
Final rating: 6/10.
- Steve H: 7/10. Moved into the backrow mid-way through the 2nd half and showed real pace throughout. Will hopefully stay at the Wheats now he has returned for his travels.
- Rich B: 7/10. Faultless display at the back (apart from failing to kick the ball out at the death & a questionable clearance in the 2nd half).
- Gillham: 6.5/10. It’s always hard to come on in the 2nd half but James committed himself and played well. The club has a number of talented back-row players & everyone’s attitude to the rotation system has been superb.
- Simon Carter: 6.5/10. Came onto the wing mid-way through the 2nd half – unfortunately never given the ball in space but a big thanks for coming on. Became the 59th Player to represent the Wheats in 17 league games this season. If we can get a 60th onto the field against Atherstone they will receive a special reward.
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