Sheffield Oaks 38 -10 Pontefract Pythons
The usual shambolic rush to get everyone to the game on time started early on Saturday morning with a text from Tom as he left Spearmint Rhinos at 9am. This tied in with a call from Rusty informing me of another Tom who ended up in A&E after his face fell onto a fist and was now unable to play, and then Stenney turning up to the wrong pitch ensured a flurry of texts and phone calls up until 10 minutes before kickoff!!
Fortunately, Tom wasn't as drunk as first expected, and Stenney made it with seconds to spare, so a great game of rugby was ensured. For once the Oaks got off to a great start, showing some great flare and real go forward rugby. This was rewarded with a a run of tries from Tom Watcyn-Jones, Frets, and Tom Swinson - with Andy Tulpin converting one of them.
Then saw the revival of Pontefract, who turned on a bit of pressure keeping Sheffield in their own half for a good twenty minutes. Fortunately, some good and scrambling defence held them at bay long enough for them to eventually take a penalty to get some points on the board. This released the pressure and allowed Sheffield to counter and score another try straight from the restart through Dave Mitch right before the half time whistle.
The second half was a little more evenly matched, but Sheffield continued to show their dominance. After a number of players succumbed to the physical game (and alcohol) a clearly bitter Ponte started getting a little dirty. Sheffield managed to keep their cool and were rewarded by putting on two more tries through Frets and Rusty. Unfortunately late in the game, Frets appearing to be worn out as he seemed to just stop and lay down, while Tom appeared to be lost in thoughts of Spearmint Rhino, allowed Ponte, through a forward pass no less, to get one over.
Well done on a win fellas!!
Man of the match: Tom WJ.... with so much alcohol in his system how he managed this only God knows!!
Decision of day: Bonzo for his tap and go and pass into touch!!
