Bulldogs 3 - 30 Cobham
Hi Chaps
Unfortunately, Grashoppers had to cry off and we picked up a fixture that on our previous performance would have been a reasonable test for us…Cobham 2nds.
We had a pool of around 20 players so the idea of fresh legs coming on in rotation I thought would more than balance out the side ..especially as we had a good team out the previous week and most of the player were available for this game
We started off rather well with a great forward powerful pack and heavyweight outsides driving up the pitch and forcing Cobham to make mistakes and a penalty was the result….3 points banged over by Ben and off we went …
Cobham were a well drilled side and had many well worked and tried moves that really tested us in every department. However the defence was good on both sides and massive tackles and support was very much the order of the day
It was a great first half with Dom at scrum half driving the forwards up the park, Ben No 10 controlling the outsides and both passing the ball down the line and also some deft kicking kept us in their half. Brad and Andy in the centre made some good moves and great defence work that kept Cobham at bay and Martin on the wing made good penetrating runs and so nearly a try making movement.
Tom , Scotty and the pack put in some awesome work up front and Tinks hooked well and had a few against the head…..Simon made a few of his driving runs and was unlucky not to be rewarded with a try making move.
So at half time we were move than ever well in contention and in a position to consolidate with a score against us of just a few points …3 – 6
But the second half we ran into injury problems and lost FIVE key players and that meant disaster for us as we had no specialist replacements
Bradd fell awkwardly and unfortunately broke his leg, Martin making a good pick up from deep inside his own half made a searing run and a kick ahead and then chased like fury….he unfortunately went into the oppo’s knee and had a nasty cut on the head.. he had to leave the pitch ( 8 stitches) . Andy at centre having a great game pulled a hamstring and had to leave the pitch and then Ben had a similar old leg muscle pull that took him off the pitch and then the powerhouse in the shape of Scotty did his finger in …he does not know how ( that is how hard this man is ) but also had to leave the pitch
This did leave a huge hole in our game plan and strategy….albeit we carried on with some good subs. but not in the specialist positions
The team played in great Bulldog style and spirit……and dug deep and even at the very end still mounting attacking moves but we were very much at a disadvantage and tries were on in the second half by Cobham getting to over 30 points .
Our own score remained at 3 point though we came so very close to scoring on a number of occasions
A great all-round effort and quite a shaker, first half, for Cobham
We retired to The white Swan for a great evening watching the game and at the end of the evening lets’ face it, no sour grapes, the best side did win….although I wonder what the result would have been if the “ TRY” had been given…..mind you the Australian third referee in the box did spend a long time making the decision so he must have been right!
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS TOP THIS WEEK WE ARE PLAYING AT HOME TO UXBRIDGE AND A MUCH MORE EVEN FIXCTURE
Brad is now in plaster with his leg and had planned to go home this Tuesday to Aussie land but this has been delayed…we had planned a send of but this was not possible due to Brad going off to hospital However, I am waiting to hear from him to see what is happening and how we can help in everyway possible.
Martin is in good spirits and sporting a nice bandage an getting full value out of this one
PLEASE CONTACT ASAP AND KLET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE AVAILBAL EFOR THIS WEEK BY WED
Great photos by Iron Man onseperate email of both the game and the après in the evening
Cheers
Colin/Tony