Old Wheats 21 – 24 Covents (2nd half, nobody can remember 1st half score?)
Looks who’s back ..............
Covents entered the Stade coldrum in good form and no doubt had high hopes of winning back the Clayton Flick Memorial Trophy.
The Wheats lined up with Veterans Hibberd & Hartopp hugging Baz in the front row, Skipper Gigalo packed down with his old partner Jackson in the engine room. Rather than x2 Hodgkiss & x1 Weaver in the back row, the tables were turned this week. With Ex-Skipper Pig still down & out after massive hit from a monster 2 weeks ago, Old man Weaver moved to 8 & everyone was more than delighted to see the return of junior ghost after a 16month injury lay-off! The question was, would he still have it? Andy Lewis dominated the 9 shirt with Kurt-Glee at 10. The Barrell & He-Man Drury combined in the centre. Haircut Oly, Millionaire Haddo & Stu Insley made up the back 3. Their was real arguments over the bench, with 8available & only 3 allowed coins were tossed, punches thrown & the lucky ones left out were veterans Hartopp (R), Hasto, Kev Smith & stewards Mason & Bryant. That left the unlucky Dan, Gillam & Carl to freeze nuts off on the sideline!
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Back Row: The Great Weaver's vs Hodgkiss's Debate
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Have your say .... Should the Weavers or Hodgkiss's dominate the back row?
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Here are some key stats to help you decide?
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Weavers
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Hodgkiss's
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Combined age
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65ish
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60 - but then +6 for all Si's grey hairs.
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Combined weight
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30stone (heaveier thanks to caspers muscles)
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28stone
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Combined height
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11ft 9"
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11ft 10" (extra inch on the Pigs spikes)
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Avg tackle count per game
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35
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17 (16 for Si, 1 for Pig)
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Worst injury lay-off
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16months
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3years (paper cut for pig when snuffling in McDonalds bag)
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Pace - out of 10
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9
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stuttering 6
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Ball skills
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10
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9
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Ability to cheat
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10
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10
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Likelihood to start a fight
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10
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1 (both to pretty)
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So from less than a team to 23 players in the space of a week is this the turning point???? Encouraging also with the likes of Aitkins, Keenan, & Brown still to return from injury, some at Twickenham & some with inexcusable excuses!
The players were delighted to see Jamie Keenan back around, after taking a good warm up everyone seemed well up for it & this proved to be true as the Wheats certainly had the better of the 1st exchanges.
There was little luck for the wheats once again though & certainly no decisions were going their way (much to the delight of the Covents spectators!). Some great “d” throughout the 1st half with Casper showing YES he has still got it & the Skipper putting in a performance Johnson would be proud of. Unfortunately the side got a little excited with the little possession they had whilst Covents remained calm to go in 17-0 up.
Least said soonest mended about the first 10mins of the 2nd half! Players looked like they had enjoyed one too many ports at half time as Covents ran in 3 tries! – gutting but perhaps a good thing as the players showed each other they would not give up & spirit does not come close to describing the last 20mins of the game!
Drury was first up, a loose ball was hacked on & he showed that been cut does not mean you loose your gas as he out sprinted the Covents back 3 to dot down.
Casper rounded off a top draw performance with a deserved 5). Following some nice skills from McGowan & Lewis, Drury showed some serious moves to go in again.
Bobby had a top day with the boot, touch finders & re-starts (lots of practice) were classics. More impressive were the conversions .....
Bobby lines up to smash another one over the posts .....
All in all a great attitude & good game to watch. Wheats need to be more confident & more clinical at the breakdown. Covents certainly looked like a team who train together (cheats!) & played some nice rugby at times. The game was played in good spirit and all players played hard but fair (except 1 who could have ruined it – some good photos of “punching” to follow).
Unfortunately the opposition had gone before there was time to present the Clayton Flick memorial trophy – will have to do after return fixture.
MOTM: You choose ... have your say on facebook. Nominations include:
1. Casper – awesome.
2. Lacey – inspirational
3. Jackson – massive nuts
4. Lewis – motivator
5. Kurt – kicking
6. Drury – Roids
7. Insley – Tireless & highest tackle count.
DOTD: again, have you say on facebook.
Thanks to all – especially the veterans who are holding the club together during this difficult period.
If we are to move on from where we are, people will need to give their club priority for a reasonable period of time (ie no more poor excuses for not playing)
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