Atherstone 29 – 15 Old Wheatleyans
End of.
Old Wheats made the long trip to sunny Atherstone to be involved in their 28th VPs game of the season with the standard compliment of men available.
Atherstone proceeded to show that it’s not enough to just turn up and put a shirt on however, as they demonstrated real desire which was in stark contrast to a lacklustre Wheats performance.
I

n Old Wheatleyans’ final league match for the season neither side was in contention for a playoff spot, and even the prospect of the big money payout for finishing in the top 4 was not enough to inspire the Wheats to play the committed rugby they have shown themselves to be capable of in fits and starts over the season.
Unfortunately the most memorable moment of an otherwise average match was the yellow card shown to Jam for having the audacity to retaliate having been merely stamped square in the face by an opposing back row player (also yellow carded), and was lucky to escape serious injury.
The Atherstone sidelines were slightly more subdued than in previous season’s clashes between the sides. Perhaps the VPs were less interested than usual in the end of a season when previously they have often found their club in contention for promotion. Perhaps they were never in any serious doubt as to which side would run out winners. Or perhaps they were wondering if the Old Wheats were the only other side in the league over the past 3 seasons. In any event, it was 2 points in the bag for them, and a 100-1 winner in the Grand National that afternoon was probably the main talking point in the bar for both sets of supporters and players afterwards.
Atherstone would go on to forfeit their last game of the season against Rugby Welsh who have simply been a different class this season and deservedly win promotion. The final league table looked like this, as evidently the RFU lost interest in updating it sometime in April...