OC’s welcomed Aylesford to a miserabull Horn Park on Saturday, with plenty to prove after last week’s below par performance at Deal. With kick off fast approaching and the rain showing no signs of letting up it was clear that OC’s would have to take stock of the situation and adapt the high tempo offloading game that had been discussed during the week.
Colfes came out of the gate fastest and after a bulldozing driving maul Woody grabbed the meat with Potts converting the extras, 7-0. Despite the constant rain OC’s were comfortable in possession with Bill and Andy stampeding through the Aylesford line. The pressure eventually told and after 5 weeks of trying, Gunner was eventually able to claim the spoils of another good OC’s driving maul, 12-0. A personal apology needs to be made at this point for the celebration that ensued, very embarrassing and it did not escape mockery in the bar. Some would say the reaction was like a red rag to a bull… The ref was in no moooood for high tackles and both sides lost a man to the bin before the half was out. With the clock winding down OC’s went the length of the field and Fred ‘The Barrel’ Berridge charged down the full backs clearance kick giving Ed a walk in under the sticks. 19-0 at the hoof.
OC’s looked on track to fulfil Luke’s request, 60 points for and 0 against, but a bullish start to the second half from the visitors meant the shutout was not on. A chip through and a 50p bounce later saw the Aylesford 10 go over 19-5. A response was needed and a well worked backs moooove sent ‘The Barrel’ Berridge under the sticks, showing the Aylesford defensive line a clean set of hooves, 26-5. In an odd twist, due to Aylesford’s eagerness to reclaim the ball at the restarts, which up until this point resulted in them being called back for offside every time, the game continued to re-start with a scrum at halfway. Galey had started to identify the space around the ruck and his barking instructions were finally listened to by Ladi who was next to dot down, shortly followed by OC’s very own BULLy, Sugar Andy O, 40-5. Job done….not quite. In the dying embers, JTQ was sent to the bin remarking the decision was ‘udderly ridiculous’ and with OC’s having to commit an extra back to the scrum Aylesford used their superior numbers to score in the corner. Final Score 40-10.
Big mentions to Alex and Jack for their debuts. Another strong game from Bill saw him win, then lose and then finally hold onto Trev. Captain Quad picked up the bubbles from the alacamooos. A well-earned week off then OC’s head down to 3rd place Dover.
For those counting and a chance to win ‘Bullys Star Prize’ there were 15 bad references to Bulls throughout…
Westy
