The traditional end of season finale took place at Littlemoor on Saturday when the 1st XV took on the Presidents XV in a match that as usual was hotly contested. The 1st XV fielded a strong squad under Captain Oliver McEntyre, while the President’s men consisted of a select band of brothers including the majority of the usual 2nd XV plus some interesting additions from local clubs and of course the very welcome return of many old friends for seasons past.
As ever the opening exchanges comprised of the President’s team firing into their opponents in their usual bid to prove a point as the 1st XV absorbing the pressure. It was the Presidents who struck first with a well taken penalty, which spurred the 1st XV into action and after some good forward play to secure ball at a series of aggressive rucks the backline called for the ball and it was Lafranceschina who powered over for the score. After a fine move the Presidents moved towards the posts and it was Simon Gretton who touched down in the corner. As play see-sawed from one end to the other, Kino slotted a penalty to level the scores at 8 – 8.
As the match progressed the 1st XV began to assert and a fine run from the loose saw Rigby dart down the middle of the pitch like an ostrich and provide a lovely pass to Smudge Smith who used his pace to score and the score moved on to 15 – 8.
After the half time oranges Simon Cowgill got in on the act and the scoreboard ticked over to 22 – 8. The President’s men were not for lying down and launched open attacks at every opportunity, with Holmes tightening up the forward play throughout the match the 1st XV hardly had things all their own way – which made for an entertaining match for the large crowd.
Rarely a game goes by without Basquill getting on the score card and it was only a matter of time before the rapid back shot over to score. With the conversion taken the score moved forward to 29 – 8. The President’s XV took the re-start and forged back up the pitch and were duly rewarded for their pressure when Sam Thornber took advantage of a sloppy knock on in open play to charge down the pitch and score under the posts, with the conversion taken the score moved to 29 – 15. However, it was Curphey who had the last say in the game when he took a crash ball and carried it over the line to score under the posts. Final score 36 – 15 and a fine match was had by all. All eyes now move towards next Saturday when the Annual Dinner takes place in the clubhouse.