For those who have been travelling in outer space or living in a cave or castaway on a desert island, you might not know that this coming weekend is quite significant to us. It will give us the opportunity to see how good our rugby club is, not only on the pitch but also socially and commercially.
LAST WEEKEND
The First XV had a much needed run out after the weather disrupted our progress. The Burton Development squad were the ideal opponents as they were fit and enthusiastic. The early stages of the match saw Burton take control and a deserved lead. However, our pack gradually started to dominate possession and Phil Painter shook off defenders to score an impressive try and Jake put the rest of the points on the board. His ice-cool composure was tested as he had to succeed with the final play of the match to ensure victory. It was not his best ever display of kicking but when it mattered, he answered the call. The win, by 21-19 was needed as we head into a crucial part of the season.
The Vandals successful run continues at the expence of an Edwardians 2nd XV who arrived short of players and short of morale. As we do, we found some more than capable Old Yards players who were willing to help make a game of it by playing for the opposition. Eds star man, Archimedes Ogan, dislocated his finger but failed to take Big Kev's advice as he thought amputation might be a little extreme. Anyway, the Vandals run of success continued and a win by 60 - 12 gives a fairly good indication of current form at both clubs.
See below for Vandals full match report.
The Minis and Juniors have their own area on this website so I won't go into great detail but the hard work and dedication shown by our young players and our coaches is now starting to bear fruit in that the quality of rugby that our under 7, 8, 9, and 10s are now producing is at times outstanding. This was clear to see at the Eds and at the Bees last sunday.
The under 17s are, on their day, superb to watch. Against an Eds team with whom we have had some very close games in recent seasons, there was much to please the crowd. After the usual lethargic start when the Eds should really have taken their chances, our boys came to life. Although their names are similar, their rugby talents are not. Tre'rail tends to score from long range and he does have some pace, but Tyrell prefers the shorter distances and his try under the posts was out of the 'Dean Ashton' collection. I won't go any further on that one, but a win by 41 - 0 was most impressive. I would like to thank Gareth and his team for their refusal to cave in, the referee Phil Carman and the supporters. The boys appreciate the interest shown by so many of our club members.
THIS COMING WEEKEND
On saturday our Development XV and our Vandals XV are both in action at home against Handsworth with kick off time at 1.00.
Our First team have that small matter of a rearranged RFU National Junior Vase game at home against Bedford Swifts. Kick off is 2.00 and it is the semi- final stage of the Midlands area group.I think enough has been said about the game so come and support the team, arrive in plenty of time and enjoy the occasion.
On sunday, if you have nothing too vital to do, then clear your heads with some fresh air at the club as our Under 17s take on Camp Hill. A win for Camps would almost certainly put them in an uncatchable position but a win for our boys will make for an interesting climax to the season.
SOCIAL
A few weeks ago, Pat organised a comedy night at the club. The support from club members was a disgrace so this time get of your backsides and support your club. In case you didn't hear, it was brilliant. Well, after much persuasion, we are going to have another such event. The date is Saturday 23rd Feb, the venue is at 'Your Rugby Club', i.e.The Old Yards and tickets at £10 can be bought from Pat or Shannon. Dino is organising a player's soiree afterwards. Take a risk, you will enjoy it.
Vandals vs Edwardians 2nds (Merit Table) - full match report
After a couple of week's break due to the snow we returned to GB merit league action on Saturday with the return game at Tilehouse Lane against near neighbours Old Edwardians and unlike a lot of our recent opponents we were able to show our strength in depth in fielding a strong looking fifteen despite eight regulars being away on "international drinking duty".
The pack this week Pete "Fridge" Butler, Rick "Swing" Lowe" & Mark " Pie Chucker " Baldwin starting in the front row, Bill "Bilbo" Burrows continuing in rehab by partnering Phil "BMT" Gouldbourn in the boiler room, with a back row of "eights" in Rupert "the Major" Young, Paul "Goose" Gower & Ali "Spasm" Gouldbourn at actual No.8.
In the backs at scrum half Guy "Smudger" Smith alongside Barry-John "Baz" Cole , Dave "Blade" McGill & Max "Gimo" in midfield with a back three of Gary "Smokin" Williams, Dave "Chicken" Hanson and Dave "Ralph" Rollins at full back.
What was going to be a bench of one (me) earlier on in the week, had filled out a bit by Saturday morning in Slow, Shannon Killarney the Younger, Shane "Shazza" Rowland, young Ali James-Parkes and in what was to be his first game in over a year Nick "Lurch" Allen.
With two teams at home and the first team pitch still being wrapped in cotton wool we were exiled once more to a rather soggy but still playable top pitch. The referee this week the younger half of the mother daughter refereeing combo Christine Goldfinch from Telford. With Shark at HQ this week's stunt skipper Ralph wins the toss and opts to give Eds the kick off & the low Winter sun, with us playing towards the Highgate end in the first half.
With Eds arriving with eleven Tom "Pickle" Mead offered as he has on several occasions to play for the opposition, and with Ali the younger also changing shirts that brought Eds up to thirteen, so with Chicken arriving sans boots Slow opts to start the game with fourteen on our side to even things up. Not that it seemed necessary for as in previous weeks we show our charitable side and concede the first score after two minutes, ironically a strong & straight piece of running saw "our" young Alister carve through our defence and give the perfect offload to their scrum half who scoots under the posts for a converted try try 0-7. Slow simply laughs these days.
We achieve parity on five minutes following an attacking lineout five metres out from the Eds line, Pie Chucker hits big Phil at four and Bilbo tidies up and we take it on a metre, before Smudge calls for it and we spin, but we get held up in midfield and Smudger has to go in & dig it out; his pass find Baz, who dummies & then hits Blade with a well timed pass and he goes over 5-7. Ralph converts to bring the scores level 7-7.
We are very lucky not to go behind again when a loose pass finds one of the Eds' youngsters and they go forty odd metres only for the final pass to be judged forward with only Ralph & the line to beat. It's a steady scrum & Guy finds Ralph who fires one down deep where it's well taken by young Alister and Ralph follows up his kick with the tackle, Alister offloads but we turn them over in the tramlines, Bilbo finds Mark who finds Goose, but the onward pass is deemed forward for a scrum to Eds. The scrum starts mysteriously to rotate, but Eds manage to retain possession and then chip over the top. Ralph takes but is forced to die with it & Smokin comes to his aid, before Guy ships it out to Baz who sees a gap & goes, he finds Blade and it's a great tackle by young Al, so we recycle, big Phil pops it between long his legs to Rick who finds Guy who brings big Al in on the short ball, and he takes it into contact, we recycle, Guy to Baz to Max. Gimo has to stand it up and we go again, Guy to Baz to Ralph in the line to Smokin, steps his man sells an outrageous dummy inside pass back to Ralph and goes over in the corner 12-7 Ralph's conversion is unsuccessful.
Our third try of the day comes midway in the half, following Rick's unsuccessful attempt at being a winger we are awarded a lineout about fifteen metres out from the Eds' line; Mark hits the Major at two, we set then drive but the maul runs out of steam so fresh impetus is added by big Als' eighteen stone and we continue inexorably towards the line and with five or six metres to go Goose decides to stretch his wings & goes solo to score 17-7 Conversion missed.
We're back on the scoreboard a few minutes before halftime when Eds are awarded a penalty which they kick to clear, however the resulting throw is not straight and we are awarded the scrum just on the twenty two fifteen in, good steady scrummage & Al picks up from the base, makes an initial couple of yards before offloading to Goose on his shoulder, he gets stopped just short of the line but still manages to get the pass away to big Phil in support who goes over to score 22-7 top try. Ralph goes close but not close enough (he has nightmares about the misses you know).
Eds lose another player so Shannon Jr goes on for them despite a false start with his tracksuit bottoms, but our try is the last of any meaningful action as M'am blows for halftime.
Halftime 20-7 Bilbo comes off having had his first full half in eighteen months, and he's replaced by Lurch in his first game since a serious knee injury over a year ago. Slow also takes the opportunity to sneak Chicken on as we move up to a full compliment.
The opening minutes of the second half sees "our man" Pickle in the thick of it showing off his T.A. fitness levels and generally being annoying by jumping on the loose ball, and then getting a big hug first off Fridge and then the Major in quick succession...more to come later.
Our two man advantage lasts all of a couple of minutes when Blade is forced to limp off, Slow decides to come all over sporting again and leaves it at fourteen against thirteen, but then is overcome with boredom as he decides to even things up by going onto the Eds flank and new cub reporter Blade takes up the commentary for the remainder of the game.
We start brightly enough with some good combinations between the forwards & the backs, but we're caught cold four or five minutes in following some good goal line defence when a quickly taken penalty enables Eds to score their second under the posts, but fortunately the conversion sails under the crossbar with some of the taller Vandals lucky not to be decapitated 22-12.
But we respond almost immediately with one out of the top drawer, when Baz finds some space on the left, offloads to big Phil, back inside to Baz, he stands it up and we recycle, Guy makes a great sniping break, passes to Goose on his shoulder, he spins to Max, ball goes through the hands to Chicken and he goes over wide out despite the best efforts of young Alister 27-12. With the kicking tee temporarily AWOL Ralph goes old school & builds a mud one instead and calmly slots it over
29-12 "all from a mound of mud" Blade remarks.
The restart doesn't go ten so we come back for a scrum, Al picks up from the base and goes but his pass to brother Phil is knocked forward, no advantage comes, so we come back for a scrum to Eds. We take it against the head, sorry Rick not sure how, I was pushing in the opposite direction and Al picks again & goes, offloads to Rupe in support, he takes it into contact, and we recycle, Rick at nine pops to Al, who gives bro another less than sympathetic pass, but we all know Phil's got good hands as he takes it off his bootlaces, he in turn finds his second row partner Lurch whose strong run bursts a couple of tackles and sees him sprint a good thirty or forty metres before finally being brought down inches short of the line; but still has the presence of mind to get the pass off to Ralph for him to score 34-12. This time with the use of the kicking tee Ralph manages to hit the upright...see technology isn't everything!
Rick comes off for a breather, Mark switches to hooker and "young" Shane comes on at prop, and in the following few minutes Chicken swaps shirts with his young prodigy Alister, and Goose & Shannon Jr swap sides.
Plays moves on and from a line out just on their ten, Mark throws a cunning low pastry to the Major at two, who sets off down the tram lines, passes inside to big Phil, good line, to Shannon the younger, he hits Max but the ball goes to ground, backwards, so play on, big Phil scoops it up, passes to Smokin, little dummy, goes into contact then sets up the ruck, Phil's there again, Guy digs it out up & spins to Ralph, to Max in midfield, goes himself, gets held up, supports arrives in the shape of Baz & Guy. Guy ships it out to Ralph standing in at ten, he switches with Nick who in turn finds Baz, to Ralph, back inside to Baz who sees Shannon in support like a good eighteen year old flanker should be & who goes over for his maiden Vandal score. 39-12 Ralph with tee converts 41-12.
Shortly afterwards impressively or not Pickle decides to pick on not one Gouldbourn brother but both as all three end up snarling at each other on the deck and Captain Slow is forced to pull them apart. Imagine marrying into that family ;o)
The game having carried on regardless we are awarded one of only a handful of penalties, and Ralph despatches it into the Eds twenty two. At the lineout Mark hits Phil at four, we set & then drive to the line, it's a good fifteen metre drive and over the line we go but M'am claims it's held up, so we come back for the five metre scrum. At which Al picks up pops to Guy to Max, drop of the shoulder and over he goes and "wiley old pro that he is" (Cub's words) looks to have dotted it down only then to sneak it round under the posts 46-12 Easy one for Ralph 48-12. Captain Slow changes shirts with the Major for the last five or so minutes.
Big Al takes the restart offloads to Shazza who sets off on a thirty metre burst, the centre doesn't want to know, Slow's hot on his heels screaming "keep going, keep going" and in fairness it's only a great tackle by their impressive young No.9 (work colleague of our first team player coach apparently) that finally stops Shane's bid for glory. Shortly after Shane goes off to lose his breakfast, Fridge also decides he's done enough for the day, and Rick comes back on but at prop.
We contrive to pass up on two more scoring opportunities before we get a scrum centre field, Guy goes blind draws the winger and puts Smokin over in the corner for his second and our ninth try of the day 53-12. Ralph's conversion doesn't have the legs. Slow offers the Ref time, but Eds opt to carry on.
Two minutes to go then, Guy takes the restart, spins to Smokin, to Baz, to Shannon, he goes down the middle & straightens things up, passes to Smokin, he's tackled just as the pass is on for Guy, no matter, ball goes to ground young Alister's in there, we recycle, the pass comes out to Lurch, looking sprightly for a guy with a dodgy knee, he gets through the traffic finds Baz who rather surprisingly I'd imagine finds Slow on his shoulder and despite Pickle's best efforts Slow goes over from about fifteen metres out 58-12 Ralph gets his fifth of the day 60-12 and that's it for the day.
Revised final Score 60-12 final age a low 544 but remember just the fourteen men, and two bairns under twenty.
Thanks to all those who helped Eds out at various stages namely Alister, Pickle, Shannon, Rupert, Goose & Chicken.
Man in the Dirtiest Shirt this week goes to Guy Smith who listening to the tape was seemingly everywhere & never far from the action.
This week a "friendly" against Handsworth 3rds at home, note early kick off 1pm.
Slow