Old Wheatleyans 66 - 15 Warwickian
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
The weekend of love and romance got underway at a sexy Stade Wheats and the home side emerged victorious after a scintillating display of running rugby. Supporters who braved the cold were treated to a great afternoon as the rampant Wheats saw off the challenge of Warwickians, to leapfrog their opponents in the league table.
Pre-match preparations were thrown into disarray when Ollie arrived limping after a serious altercation with a taxi the night before, Hasto and DH tossed a coin to see who would bench – DH lost, DH got changed.
The Wheats started solidly, securing ball from the kick-off and taking play down into the Warwickians twenty-two, only for the Warwickians full-back to gather the ball, make good yardage and kick deep into Wheats territory. The ball was recovered by Warwickians and they crossed the line for the first points of the match.
It wasn’t the ideal start but confidence was not dented. The Wheats got the ball in hand and hard running from the forwards secured good territory and possession. Lewis started to ‘boss’ the game at 10, Captain Lacey was having a tremendous day in the lineout, Gillam was covering every blade of grass, Simon Hodgkiss linking play superbly – and the tries started to come.
Jase ‘barrelled’ his way over for two, Stu took a fabulous line to run into space created by Charlie to cross for a 5 pointer, creator turned scorer when Charlie bashed his way over to further increase the Wheats total, which was already beginning to look imperious.
Half-time came with the score favouring the Wheats and the ‘chat’ was all about keeping the work-rate high, continuing to run hard and straight and attack space – more of the same please – and the lads delivered in style.
The planned ‘impact’ substitutions were thrown into disarray as Neil Hodgkiss, touchline analyst, reported that the Deer Hunter had tweaked his calf bending down to pick up a water bottle – all was not lost however as Beechy was prowling the touchline like a caged animal.
Running rugby was the order of the second half and the man controlling the scoreboard was up and down more than Dean’s arse in York.
Lewis crossed for 2, Jase completed his hat-trick, Harty secured his brace and there was even time for Andy Hibberd to crash over, fighting Carl and DH for the ball as they powered (fell) over the line.
The undeniable lowlight of the half came when Lewis darted through a gap and fearing he may have to put his hand in his pocket to buy a jug, eagerly looked for supporting runners. Charlie was coming from deep like a steam train. Lewis drew the full-back and delivered a perfect, sweetly timed pass right into Hands’ bread basket. He was 2 yards out, the crowd were already whooping...........................................and he dropped it. Lofty the dog turned away in disgrace and Mr Hands considered divorcing his son.
Fair play to Warwickians, they never gave up and they scored two more unconverted tries. The first came when a lack of concentration from the Wheats pack allowed their number 7 to scramble over from a quick tap penalty. Their second try of the half and third of the game came in the final seconds and was awarded under RFU law 31.6.53, paragraph 2, which states: “if you are losing by 50 points, you are allowed to knock the ball on 3 times and the try stands”.*
It was a great afternoon’s work for the Wheats - a real 18 man squad effort with everyone contributing. Communication was great, work rate was tremendous and commitment was total. Work to be done on restarts and defence.
Gillam, Dan, Stu, Baz and Carl had their best ever games in Wheats’ shirts – well done lads - and Geoff made a really solid debut - welcome.
Tries: Jase Wetton 3, Paul Hartopp 2, Andy Lewis 2, Charlie Hands 1, Stu 1, Greg Weaver 1, Andy Hibberd 1,
Conversions: Andy Lewis 3 from 11 (27% success rate), Jase Wetton 0 from 1 (shocker)
Chairman’s Man of the Match was James Gillam – do you agree? Vote on Facebook.
Nominations:
James Gillam – released from Dean’s shackles for the day - great engine, great defence and hardly any moaning
Paul Hartopp – two tries from the front row
Ross Lacey – awesome performance from our leader
Andy Lewis – top points scorer and ran the show
Jase Wetton – got the hat trick (however hard he tried not to)
Dick of the Day nominations:
Charlie Hands – middle name ‘No’
Adam Mason – woeful restart performance
Millerchip – injured by a taxi
Paul Hartopp – blatant jug avoidance
In other news:
Many thanks to Lucy and Mrs Haddo for helping out with the sausages
Thanks to Kev, Hasto, Dan and Neil H for their help throughout the day
Next week’s fixture is away against high flying Atherstone – make yourself available and let’s build on a great performance
*this may not be factual
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