X Men Bounce Back

Finally after some rather transparent (see through/made up)excuses from opposition crying off at 430pm on Friday..yes Chinnor Friday...leaving us no chance of any hope of a game..last week the X men travelled to the wet lands of the Thames to meet the excellent men from Barnes....the 12.30 kick off time was clearly a problem for those university educated boys to work out...11am meet at the venue not Orpington...would give us a fair chance at a warm up and then a game...so no names mentioned (Tidd) need to look at a map and ascertain what is at the end of the garden fence...anyway the authors anger was some what diluted by the news that one of our nameless centers (Chatters) had got lost in Earls Court...this is the home of Australians and prostitutues...and so one can only imagine what he was up to...anyway onto the game.

The fact that this game was uncontested and on a small pitch meant that our main strength..scrum and back three were somewhat restricted in our game plan...but the emphasis on attacking the breakdown and ensuring we had players off each shoulder of the ball carrier..was clearly a thing these x men thought was a job for the water carriers.. and as for defence the concept of inside shoulder and out for a drift along with communication which does not rely on the power of mime went missing in the first half...In fact Barnes were excellent when they had the ball and scored some great tries,,running through some woeful defence and some one on one tackles which were pathetic.

The excellent Barnes hooker threw superbly and their back line wreaked havoc on a Combe defence who went missing in the first 40 mins....the coach..and also the referee was allowed to remind these Combe boys that the word defence meant the occasional tackle and the fact that if we gave these excellent Barnes ball carriers the ball they would score...so lets tackle more and keep the ball...half time 24-3.

The half time team talk was one of blunt honesty,,no bottle, weak defending,crap passing and flat attack....lets do the opposite

Second half saw the complete reversal with some competiition at the breakdown...the solid Maynard giving good ball to Simpson who woke from the slumber and had an excellent 40 mins...the excellent Foster was a real pain running from deep and beating defenders with some great running and supporting lines...solid in the defence and never missed a tackle. Louis was a bother for the Barnes boys and the referee when at one stage he was further off side than the a man ...but very good second 40 with his defence being the highlight.

The centers swopped about a bit but Chatters was excellent and must be a contender for the 1s next week at 12...Neil and Phil had a bitty game but Neils try saving tackles with a clear line at 15 were outstanding...Loyden's conversions were his saviour, only missing one penalty and his passing was and positional play was better at 13, he will hopefully learn from this game.

The forwards decided to play in the second half and the highlight was Dan Gilling....man of the match and try scorer...what a legend this boy is ...he has come back from a broken jaw and fracured skull...and actually speaks more clearly...he can say yes and no and f..k...which is more than me!!!

The game was then enhanced by a fat bloke from Barnes turning up on the side lines who was wearing full knee length socks and a tucked in shirt who was clearly waiting for a Vets game...his input for his somewhat tiring team was "off side ref ...knock on...f...k me"...clearly a Churcillian leader and wordsmith of Madelson form...but to their credit the boys in Black deceided to take it to the increasingly dominant visitors and deserved more for their efforts...

I am a fat bloke but would not wear knee length socks...and standing behind the posts offering opinions on the forward pass is clealry an art form...still we hope his input for the under 13's tommorrow will be better.

The efforts by all of the pack in the second half ...and indeed the team were the complete opposite of the first....crap vs very good..lots of good performances but these boys need to front up at the first Whistle not the second half

This was a solid second half with some great defence and some really good hits and carrying from everyone including the re-invigorated Tidd, the beast Sole, and the durable Smith.

The unsung hero was Threfall who had a great game..well done mate

Bantin at 9.and.the new Dave Padgham looked like a real nuisance and the return of Taff (is this Offside?) Willams was all encouraging......

The Combe boys were last seen at the Red Lion....I have booked several custody suites as the good residents of this classy suburb will no doubt be offended by Phil the Dinner Man Rogers singing at 4pm after two shandy basses..and Catlins insistence on showing people his Welsh credentials.

Hats off to the opposition who were superb and gave us a great game ...thanks boys

SW