Match Report

Marbella 20 Bulldogs 10

Hi chaps

Just a very quick report (full report later) as I appreciate you are all waiting for the Tour photos!!!

Our last game of the season against a Marbella RFC club side was in many ways a highlight to the whole season and a great way to round off the season.

The club is being re-built and by the end of the year will be finished but the pitch must be one of the widest and longest I have played on in years.

We played a very well drilled vets’s side and the European rules state no contested scrums and no kicking outside the 22yd …great that’s all we needed after a very heavy night and most Bulldog players looking decidedly rough. Our pre-match training at various pubs, clubs and then re-arranging the potted plants in the hotel served as a good basis for an eventful game!

It was our kick off and Nick was looking for a long one (so was his brother later that evening) 14 Bulldogs players were right behind Nick and a huge charge was anticipated to bring fear into the Marbella vets.. Nick kicked a mighty one and the whole of the Marbella side hit the deck with their legs up in the air… a cunning coarse rugby tactic and much appreciated.

Anyway, we kicked off again in blazing sunshine with lashings of sun lotion and it all went quite well…..Marbella certainly had a few nifty players and the winger was short, fast and with an amazingly low level of gravity…he knocked up a try or two and then the heavy mid field forwards who quite frankly without any contested scrum were far too fresh and cavorted around mid field and again scored two more tries.

The game was split into three session 20 mins each which in the heat was a very good idea indeed. They seem to have a fair number of players to rotate and we were up against it. At the end of each 20 mins our players looked knackered but somehow we put in a number of good attacking moves and Andrew playing at centre went through with a few blistering runs to bang up two excellent tries.

Tim at scrum half kept niggling away at the base and put in some good runs and service to Nick at no 10 and managed to move our outsides in a workman like manner giving both Ian and Johno in the centres the chance of putting in punishing runs…..we were unlucky not to score on a few occasions.

Martin made a good run down the wing but was stopped short of the line and retired.

Matt and Peter put in mammoth efforts with Tinks on an obvious high for most of the game with Steve M and Steve Croson always in pursuit.

Towards the last 20 mins it was obvious we needed to beef up the side as most players had taken a fair pounding the night before and now with the sun and a wide pitch there was no place to hide!...

Fortunately, both Malcolm and I were available and were going through various warm up exercises on the touch line.

Timing was important and just towards the end we had a 5 yd try on their goal line.

It was our put in and I was playing on the wing to add some speed to the game as Giles was dragging a slow left leg injury and needed to be replaced, As I went on for Giles the play was the other side of the pitch but it soon came my way.

It was our put in and I was 15 yds away from thre goal line looking at my opposite giant of a player just waiting for a Bulldog player to accidentally give me the ball.

I was calling for the ball and lining myself up for a huge dash for the line and then of course diving on for a corner try but Tim decided to go open…….the whistle went shortly afterwards and we lost by two tries to four.

A good result and great performance fro everyone including Gary running the touch and Haymaker Nick semi naked handlingthe water bottles. ….he kept wanting to know throughout the game “are we there yet?”

We were very well entertained after the game with a BBQ and endless supply of beer and of course we had good presentation from both sides.

BOJANGLES organised a boat race competition with our opposition which we won by a head!

however the highlight of the après match was the moment Bojanges opened the rather strange looking box he always brings on tour…his special wine drinking challenge…this went down very well and I think we can safely say we won on points!!