Some of the elders amidst you have enquired about Vets pre-match prep and it can be reliably confirmed that, yes, Finchy now has us two balls and they are scrubbed clean!

Pre-match prep in the 26/27 season has taken on a distinctly different form where when we take to the pitch for our dynamic warm up, learning the names of the new faces takes much longer than explaining to the forwards what John did to Mary!

This week was no different with a scattering of former 1XV mega stars who managed to dust off years in the wilderness (Mothercare & Legoland), and a rather impressive specimen from the 18/19 Champions season who went on to have stormer and some new faces from the Clubs own Mini & Junior section.

Our opponents, Chiswick, had won away at Guildford the previous week and had politely enquired whether this fixture might be postponed to allow their players a little rest. Err… no!

It was immediately apparent that Chiswick's 28-man squad had been playing together in some shape or form for decades. Barnes, meanwhile, were still working out who was who, let alone who was supposed to be standing where.
And so the tone was set.

Chiswick came out firing, unleashing relentless attacking pressure and the sort of structured, attritional rugby that comes from actually knowing your teammates' names. A barrage of high tackles from Chiswick took its toll on Barnes, with the Vets forced to empty the bench almost before everyone had worked out where to leave their tracksuits.

Despite the early casualties, Barnes dug in. The first half was fiercely contested, with neither side able to establish any meaningful dominance, somewhat helped by the game being forced into uncontested scrums. With five minutes remaining, Barnes were camped in the Chiswick 22, hammering away at the line but frustratingly unable to convert pressure into points. The sides went into the break with Chiswick narrowly ahead, 12–7.

The second half saw Barnes produce some great attacking rugby, inspired by stellar individual performances from Dave Riley, deservedly awarded Man of the Match, and James Harris, amongst others. Against the odds, Barnes wrestled back the initiative and edged into a 14–12 lead.

With 20 minutes remaining, however, another injury reduced Barnes to 14 men, with the bench long since exhausted. What followed was a monumental defensive effort. The Vets refused to buckle. Ageing and tiring bodies were thrown into contact.
Unfortunately, Chiswick's numerical advantage eventually told, and the hosts crossed late on to snatch a 17–14 victory.
Chiswick, last season's league champions, deserved their win, but they were made to work exceptionally hard for it.

Barnes Vets can take enormous pride in a sterling 70-minute performance against a well-drilled, settled and coached side.

By the final whistle, every Barnes player appeared to be hobbling, wounded or nursing something that would require a lengthy explanation to their other half. But heads remained high, the post-match beers flowed while still getting to know each others names!

The team that played was:

1. Scotty’s Dad
2. Tom Galvin
3. Finchy
4. Conrad
5. James Harris
6. Bang - David
7. Nick Gilfillan
8. Horts (Capt)
9. Julian Hill
10. Dave Riley
11. Valodya
12. James
13. Ratu Jona -Legs
14. Paul Gordon
15. Scotty
16. Pagey
17. OJ

Next Fixture: Friday 20th November away to Weybridge Vandals - be there!

Horts & Co
Vets@Barnesrfc.org