OAPs vs CAPs
Old
Atherstone Players (OAPS) vs Current Atherstone Players (CAPs)
OAPs
57 vs CAPs 49
On Saturday April 2nd 2005, a glorious spring afternoon,
the first of what is likely to become an Annual Vets match was played between
the OAPs and the CAPs. The result
was a 15 try thriller (well actually ten tries but read on to find out
why).
As the sun shone down on the assembled crowds, pre-match team talks
for each side were very different.
In the OAP camp the discussions were based around which lock could still
jump in the lineout and more importantly which one was not too heavy to be
supported. Equally the OAPs were
fervently hoping that the opposition would not notice the YAPs (Young Atherstone
Players) that had been drafted into the side. Meanwhile in the CAP camp, coach
Nick Cameron and Captain Danny
Cooke were warning their team not to take the game to lightly, there was much at
stake, in particular Club Pride.
And so the game began with OAP Will Gratton taking charge of the
whistle for what proved to be a much faster game than anyone had anticipated,
particularly given the heat and relative fitness levels of the OAPs.
Brother lined up against brother, father against son and uncle
against nephew but no family loyalty would get in the way of either side taking
victory. The formidable pack of
former Atherstone days was almost back together again and this clearly showed
with rolling mauls and scrums being pushed backwards towards the try line. Keenly contested line-outs gave both
sides equal possession of the ball although the Golden Boys were able to make
more use of possessions using their younger legs to outpace their
opponents.
The touch line was difficult to see, and this was not because of the
failing eye sight of the OAPs but because of the long grass. This caused a number of problems for the
CAPs as Matt Kent continually found himself on the wrong side of the line. As yet another lineout took place you
could see the look of anguish on Keith Berry's face as he realised he had got to
hoist Rodger Dunnachie into the air again!
Steve Cooper relished each line out particularly when jumping against
Nick Bartlam. The two of them had
their own little battle with regard to who was securing more ball.
Who knows who scored first, but it was probably the Golden ones, it
did not really matter because as any mathematician will tell you when you add a
weighting to points scored you will come out with the right result in the
end. For every try the OAPs scored
a weighting of 3 was added so although the final score read something like 19 -
49 when adjusted with the weighting the factor the final score was 57 - 49. So
whilst the CAPs scored seven converted tries the OAPs two converted tries and
one unconverted try become seven converted tries, one unconverted try and a
penalty for good measure.
Try scorers for the Golden ones were Danny Cooke (2), Nick Bartlam
(2), Matt Kent, Andy Redman and John Alexander. For the OAPs try scorers were Bob Hall,
Kenyan Steve and someone else! (Sorry can't remember who, I was too busy taking
photos to make any notes).
CAPs displayed some good flowing rugby with some nice little slight
of hand passing by Nick Cameron to
out fox the OAPs however while the CAP backs were well matched with the OAP
backs, the OAP pack showed how old school
forwards plied their trade.
At times it almost felt like there was a ten man pack pushing the Golden
boys forward, well towards the end there definitely was as the rolling
substitutions enabled the OAPs to sneak on two players without taking away any
players. This was done with the
knowledge of the referee who had earlier showed where his loyalty lay as he
converted a try for the OAPs under instructions from his former team Captain
Bangers.
The only real casualty of the day was the post-match sausages. Ockey thought they might take a long
time to cook so put them on before kick off. He asked me to go and check them at half
time but that would have meant two things .. a long walk to the clubhouse and
going into a kitchen (both of which are things I do not readily do). Instead a phone call from my mobile to
the clubhouse would hopefully save the day! Unfortunately the call did not come
quick enough! Fortunately there
were a number of fire fighters in the team who were able to bring the fire under
control!!!
I could write more about the fine display of rugby, the way in which
the Golden boys created space and opened up gaps in the defence but this would
serve only to make the team complacent and with their final league match against
top of the league Stoke Old Boys approaches they can ill afford to rest on any
laurels.
If you are an Old Atherstone Player and you want to find out more
about becoming part of this soon to be Annual Vets Match, contact me and I will
forward your details on to Kim
Whittaker. You
missed a great afternoon and an even better after match
meeting!
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