With a side made up on Thursday, with many of our "regulars" missing, this was a game which that all wanted to play, make the best of the situation and have fun. Bish came with a strong side, although they didn't have a proper front row, we didn't have a proper jumper in the line, using Matt Broad to come off his wing to jump!

The game started with Bish playing with the wind behind them, and they very quickly put Cleve under a lot of pressure. And within 10 minutes they were already 2 tries up, converting one, and at 12-0 things looked pretty grim indeed.

However the team showed some great spirit and started to fight back this tide of relentless attacks from Bish. We almost got a try too, stealing Bish ball in their own line-out and Tom Gollop showing that he could catch and run!

The backs really started to link up nicely, and it took a few more attempts to see Matt Bateman finishing the moves by scoring close to the posts. He converted his own try, 12-7 and still plenty of time to go in this first half.

But Bish added to their score shortly after, following a good drive from their forwards. They converted and were now 19-7. Within 5 minutes another Bish score, and at 26-7 we were losing a grip on the game. The final blow for us was another score by Bish shortly before half time, putting them at 31-7.

Half time talk was all but forgotten within a minute of the game starting again as Bish full back made a cracking run from his own 22 to our 22, and found support in off-loading for them to score. 36-7.

5 minutes later we saw Matt Broad scoring his first try of the afternoon, jinking his way through Bish' defence, and at 36-12 Cleve were trying to bring back some fun in to the game.

Cleve let themselves down on tackling, but the attacking was working well, especially the pick and drive which always made great yardage. On the 11th minute Matt Broad scored a brilliant individual try, running free from our 10 metre line and beating 3 Bish defenders in his race to the try line. Matt Bateman added to the score with the conversion, 36-19.

Bish didn't let go, and kept the pressure on us, to score again. 43-19.

The game was well and truly lost, but the boys didn't give up, and kept attacking at any given occasion. Elliott Neath took a quick penalty in Bish 22, and forced his way to the line, showing great strength for his scrum-half size. Actually he played really well all afternoon, tackling his heart out and this try was well deserved. Matt Bateman converted it, 43-26.

With less than 10 minutes of the game left to play, and a few more changes, Cleve were spending most of the time into Bish territory. And, despite our best efforts, we let Bish breaking our defence again, and score between the posts. This was converted, and the score at 50-26 we thought this was it.

Unfortunately not, as Bish made yet another break into our defence, and yet another try with less than 2 minutes to go. 55-26 was the final score.

Paul Beet was pleased with some aspects of our game, but the score indicates a one-sided afternoon with a much stronger Bish team that we would have anticipated. Still, this is the level that we will be competing against next season, so plenty more work for us all!

There will be training on Thursday, although Paul is not around.

Our coach Extraordinaire has enjoyed his first season with us, and the team spirit that we developed amongst all of us. Martin Johnson was on the phone for him to see if he could replace Brian, but Paul needs time to think about it...

Many of us will meet up Thursday for a run around, playing touch Rugby mainly, join us!

See you for our next game on 26 April, Salisbury away, to what has been called "Third team Tour".

Cheers guys,

Yann

07968 451354