Science has proved that only two things are hotter than Bedfont’s ground was on Saturday: the white-hot centre of a nuclear explosion and the surface of the Sun.* So after captain Dan Saxby had run us through the warm-up it was a hot and frankly pretty sweaty Lions team that lined up to receive Bedfont’s kick-off.
It’s worth noting from the outset that there were a few elements that might have weighed against us in this game. We’d never played a game before. Some of us hadn’t played rugby for anything up to 20 years. They’re a division above us. We didn’t have a single line-out planned (I don’t think anyone noticed though). One of the opposition backs had more muscle on his abs than some of us have on our entire bodies.
But Whitton had trained long and hard for this moment, and it was going to take more than that to keep us down.
Things started well. Really well. We gathered the kick-off, set the ball and recycled. And so it went for the next 20 minutes, as despite losing Mike Davies early to a nasty facial injury** we held onto the ball and ground our way up the field in a dogged display of going through the phases. When the whistle blew for a drinks break at the end of the first quarter, the gaggle of Lions supporters*** had seen a sterling effort from the whole team – albeit one which hadn’t yet yielded a try.
But that was all set to change in the second quarter, as a break and run from fullback Arlind Cela was followed by a quick pop to Ryan Nauth. A few seconds and a great drive from the forwards later number 8 Daniel Neal rose victorious from the bottom of a pile of bodies with the ball and the ref blew for the opening try. An outstanding conversion from Ryan Nauth made it 7-0 to the Lions, and that was half time.
Most of the third quarter passed without incident until a barracking run from Rob Johnson left the Lions deep into the opposition 22 and driving hard for the line. Sadly the ref chose to blow for the end of the quarter just as Paul Doherty was scrambling over the line with ball in hand, and the third quarter finished 7-0.
So we rolled back off the sidelines with twenty minutes left on the clock, seven points up in our first ever game, against a team a division above us. The stuff, frankly, that dreams are made of. And if the gods were good, that’s where this match report would end. But sadly the fourth quarter brought a slightly different tale.
We won’t spoil a great story with too much detail, but suffice it to say that by the time the whistle blew for the end of the game we’d seen a rather unfortunate ten yard penalty for accidentally calling the referee’s honour into question**** and three tries from Bedfont.
Score notwithstanding though, we’d seen a truly fantastic team effort, and laid a great foundation for the season to come. Huge thanks to everyone who came down and put their body on the line in pretty unfriendly conditions – we’ll see you all again soon. COME ON THE PRIDE!
Whitton Lions:
15. A Cela, 14. J Hales, 13. R Nauth, 12. A Potts, 11. P Stroud, 10. D Saxby (c), 9. P Doherty, 8. D Neal, 7. M Davies, 6. G Elliott, 5. R Lennon, 4. S Rulewski, 3. D Rumble, 2. A Somalian, 1. J Newman
Replacements:
16. R Johnson, 17. M Kauders (unused)
Tries: D Neal
Con: R Nauth
Man of the Match: Paul Doherty
Dick of the Day: Stef Rulewski
* disclaimer: this may be totally made up.
** some say it’s an improvement. Not me. I’m really sympathetic.
*** OK – three supporters. One of whom is married to our chairman and two of whom were drunk.
**** for further information please ask Stef Rulewski. And feel free to give him a smack in the head from me!
