The first XV travelled to Broadwalk to face old foes Charlton Park but in keeping with tradition and despite bundles of pre-match optimism came away disappointed.
A good start might have helped the Colfes cause but alas it was not to be as instead 2 tries were conceded in the opening 5 minutes as our hosts ran rampant. Tackles were missed, penalties freely given as OCs set about doing all the things we had said we wouldn’t and generally playing poorly in all areas. A dire first half left one positive at half time as our performance couldn’t get any worse at least.
Thus begun the second half with Colfes 19-0 down playing down the slope. Miraculously the second half began with OCs in the ascendancy, seemingly finding a new gear from nowhere making line breaks at will and generally playing like a team on a mission. For a brief shining moment it looked as if not only would the deficit be overturned but a sizeable lead of our own established. But it was not to be, instead another venerable tradition was followed and Colfes opted to shoot ourselves in the foot. Errors began to creep back into our play and faster than you could say “scrum” the moment shifted again.
So it was that from a promising 19-13 scoreline instead the points started to rack up as Colfes sunk back into bad habits. It would make for dull reading to list the back and forth of tries and OCs mistakes but suffice to say every step forward was matched by 2 back. And despite a late rally the game ended in defeat 43-35.
A few rays of sunshine from a dreary report: We did have patches where we looked good, Freddie B had a stormer and got man of the match but once again lost Trevor and will face severe punishment. But ultimately we were taught a harsh lesson and were soundly beaten.
