6th march

Weekly Roundup 6th March 2010

RESULTS for 6th March

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Gravesend		Postponed	London 1 South
2nd (Mustangs)	Beckenham II	A	Lost 50-8	Invicta Division I
3rd	Sidcup III	H	Won 15-5	Invicta II
4th	Old Gravesendians II	A	Won 7-37	Mid Kent A
5th	Old Gravesendians III Played Bexley III	H	Won w/o Won 0-80	Mid Kent C Friendly
Vets (over 45s)	Sevenoaks Over 45	A	Lost 5-3	Friendly

What a beautiful spring day for playing rugby on saturday, despite the occasional icy daggers from the wind. It was so pleasant to approach saturday without having to worry about frozen or waterlogged pitches.

With no game for the 1st team, it would have been nice to see the Mustangs pick up a win at Beckenham II but, whilst the forwards competed well, there was to be no victory and to make matters worse, Tim Wetjen was knocked out and will be out of action for 3 weeks, although on the plus side Andy Cairns stood on Nick East's face, which although its been trodden on before could always use a little re-modelling.

The 3rds played s**t according to a brief text from the skipper but were still good enough to secure another league victory, this time vs Sidcup III. Talk in the bar afterwards suggested that although Tuggy is widely acknowledged to be the scrum-half who takes most steps before passing the ball, this mantle is in danger of being usurped by Dominic Baxter after this week's performance. Whilst acknowledging that Dom has never claimed to be anything other than a Centre, lets just say that Sean Charlton's return from suspension next week will not cause any selection dillemmas for the skipper. (3rd team action photos in the gallery, courtsey of the long lens of roving Deputy Chairman Mr Hayton - who fresh from his fortnight in Egypt would have been much better employed playing for the Over 45s against Sevenoaks had a calf injury not provided him with a convenient excuse)

Its amazing how well the 4th team play when I go off to play for the Vets (and curiously the Vets also seem to do better when I'm not there. Must have a think about that one) Anyway, after a season in which many of the games have been probably unwinnable and many of the winnable ones have been lost, its pleasing for the side to have notched up a big score - although I havent yet heard who did all the damage. Its especially pleasing that this was acheived despite travelling with a bare 15 and being reduced to 14 within 10 minutes and 13 with 20 mins to play.

The 5ths gained a League walk-over against Old Gravesendians III and then picked up Bexley III on the exchange. With 2 recent Bexley 1st team players in the Maidstone side, Mike Brown and Ben Pritchard, the 5ths were obviously rampant on the day, Tom Clarke getting 3 tries and Chris Griffiths getting his 1st in senior rugby.

The Over 45s game vs Sevenoaks was a typically good natured affair, very well controlled by the home ref, although the raking on my back this morning suggests I must have been on the wrong side of the ruck once too often - which as a former Sevenoaks player is not a sensible place to be. Despite the relatively gentle pace of the game however, the field was littered with bodies - players collapsing in agony through pulled muscles, strained groins, fallen arches and general incontinence. The one notable injury was to the man who just cant keep out of the headlines lately, Glyn Richards. Glyn sustained a nasty eye injury whilst putting in a brave tackle on Marcus Carling as he burst through the centre en-route to the try line, resulting in a likeness to Quasimodo that only now requires a hump to complete the image- and he's working on that. He's certainly going to cut a frightening figure as he lines up on the nursery slopes in the Alps on monday on the unofficial vets Ski-Tour. Hope he doesnt scare the children.

Training

It was good to see a decent attendance at training during the week and I think that everyone enjoyed the input from the guest coach on thursday and felt they had a had a good session. Now that spring is here, it would be nice to renew some enthusiasm and to try and finish the season on a high, right across the club

Court and Social

Next saturday evening, there is a St Patricks night celebration at the club, with lots of black-stuff, Irish Stew and other Irish specialities and some great musical entertainment - all for the remarkably low price of £3 per head. Please support Tracey in this endeavour, preferably by purchasing a ticket or two in advance.

Fixtures for 13th March

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Cobham	A	Sat 3pm
2nd (Mustangs)	No fixture			Invicta I
3rd	Folkestone II	A	Sat 3pm	Invicta II
4th	Ashford III	H	Sat 3pm	Mid Kent A
5th	Gravesend Moles	H	Sat 3pm	Mid Kent C
Vets (over 45s)	Lordswood Vets	A	Sat 3pm	Friendly