Character in depth.......

Gee.......where did September go.......can't believe we are in October already and at last Autumn is knocking on the door so the pitches now take a stud and trust me, this Vets side has plenty amongst them!

The week building up to the game was surprisingly quite with only a small amount of banter emanating from Curran Enterprises inc, though it was a welcome surprise to see former Super 2s player Chris Brown emerge from two years in what is the lonely wilderness of the kick boxing ring!
By Friday we had a squad of 20+ which is always a welcome surprise and before we knew it blustery showers blew in Saturday afternoon.

Old Pauline’s boast a wonderful set up with pitches and Club house all part of a wider sporting complex and always something for us to marvel at when we travel away from our humble abode. Yet we were not to know that OP were also made of something quite special.

We too had something quite special amongst our ranks, indeed a man who has recently stepped down from the dizzy heights of senior rugby and already enjoyed quite a few run outs for the Vets. Yet what made him stand out was neither his height or strong Irish accent! No…..this man had driven of his own accord through ridiculous London traffic, trudged across the pitch in the pouring rain in shorts and a raincoat, but not to play, but instead to explain new lineout calls…….That my friends is what can happen in the first few months of marriage……a bewildered lost state of mind!

And testament to that was the fact that Sean Gibson proceeded to explain the line out calls used in the senior sides of the Club.
The only way you can visualise this is the time and I am sure it has happened to many of you, when in a small backward village near Limerick, driving lost and tiered you have wound your window down in the pouring rain to ask Seamus, a local man, for directions!

‘Well it you go pass Mahoney’s ther on da left and keep straight for 4 miles, but be careful as the road is bendy and watch the last bend because a few years ago my brother Brian came off his bike going round too fast with a sack of potatoes tat spilled everywhere and so we ended up having mashed fecking potatoes for weeks, but then after the last bend is a shop which closes today, but if you shout up to the windows the lovely Carmel might come down and give you some directions as I’m not really from round here as I live 2 miles down dat road!!!!!’

Get my drift……?
So Sean talked us through the new calls which even had chief legal counsel Nicky B in such a state that I knew we were going to have to revert to the faithful John Loves Mary calls!!!

So let me cut to the chase here, yes we won and convincingly so with the usual display or forward and back interplay that all came together nicely. Though the score line flatters us and does not do justice to the home side.

OP actually had a larger but perhaps less mobile pack and in the lineout they had a few useful options, but in the loose they worked really hard and often quite efficiently. Yet OP couldn’t make good enough use of the ball and frequnetly we forced the error.
I know the feeling of going back under your posts having conceded another try; its hard, very hard, (reminds me of mismatched 2s game years ago when a loaded Ealing side thumped us 103 nil and later formerly apologised for fielding a superior side; its hard to deal with at the time). Yet OP didn’t give up and in fact there were many passages of play where Harrodians had to defend for ages.

OP didn’t stop competing and their heads never went down, they continued to hassle us and find opportunities that could have come together, but faltered at the last moment. They played with great spirit and huge enthusiasm and despite conceding seven tries they played fair and hard. That sais something about a side and a Club, it tells me that there is special ‘back bone’ where they stay together till the last whistle, man for man. Old Pauline’s did just that and showed huge character in depth.

I am sure Harrodians will need to dig deep and depend upon the very same character when we are up against an equally committed opposition.

The side that played was:
Marty
JC
Finch
Rob
Dean
Brownie
McFilthy
Beans
Aaron
Nicky B
Frodo
Marek
Dave K
Jose
Pini
Curran inc
Morgs
Stu
Slatts
Nick
Robin

Tries: Morgs x 2 Pinni x 2 Slatts, Stu, Aaron x1
Cons: Marek x3

Next week we are home to Dorking and the first few rounds afterwards are on me!
Finch/Skips…..
05.10.14