Saturday saw Old Colfeian hearts gladdened as despite a season battered by more storms than the average Hebridean lighthouse we had once again avoided the dreaded spectre of postponement, that foulest of foes which throws a bloody great spanner in the works when it does happen.
So it was that the players and travelling fan base made our way down to the seaside and this week’s opponents: Hove. A team who were strongly in the mix at the start of the league but had struggled in recent months, however a team who we have known could punish us with ball in hand given the chance.
After any long bus journey and a reasonable warm up it was clearly of vital importance that OCs started strong and put our stamp on the game. So naturally we missed touch on a clearance and a weak kick chase allowed a fine counter attack from Hove ending with us under our own sticks 7 nil down.
Ok. We’ll try that again. This time Colfes got a grip on the game and started playing some good phases into the strong wind and after a penalty kicked to the corner a driving maul saw close range specialist Chris O’Malley dot down for his bajillionth try this year (stats may vary).
7 apiece and OCs had their tails up, moving the ball well and stringing together some nice rugby with Alex Verissimo causing carnage down his wing and Will Smith pulling the strings at 10. Something had to give and eventually some nice hands from captain John Fletcher put Dan Wood in the corner. Followed shortly after by Estefan Ellis in the same corner with a diving finish he described as “Tom Daly-esque”. I’ll let those with a closer view than your humble author confirm or deny this comparison. So with half-time approaching it seemed our grasp was tightening around the match, and we had to keep hold of the ball until the oranges came out and the wind could do us some favours after the break. So, of course, someone who’ll remain nameless threw an interception and Hove were back under our sticks.
HALF TIME: 14-17
With our lead not as commanding as we hoped but confidence still high the focus remained on possession, and some phases of quick ball saw a lovely snipe from scrum-half and eventual MOTM (to a chorus of boos it should be noted) Josh Doughty who found Andy O’Malley on his shoulder who used a crafty dumby/step/stumble to beat the cover and score making up for previously butchering a pushover scrum and getting held up on a pick and go. With the game shaping to be well in our control another try followed from Dan Hepden with a trademark slippery break. At some point in the game we must have got a penalty so final score 14-30 and a useful little bonus point tucked away.
A good night out followed in Brighton with a few casualties as always, but anyway we’re still in the promotion hunt and the crunch cup clash against local rivals Charlton Park is upcoming on the 14th at Broadwalk, what else would you want from your Saturday?
