Sefton RUFC

Pre-Match

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Things were looking up during the week. We didn’t have the the Firsts taking 20 players, and the Seconds weren’t doing their cherry picking. We could pick players to match a visiting Ellesmere Port side that also weren’t being drained by upper teams.

There was a quite air of optimism about the place.

The Warm Up

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Once again, we went out too early and ran out of things to do, well before the kickoff.

We thought about going back into the changies for a chat, but it is rather a long way from the back left pitch.

Around 14:13, it was noticed that there wasn’t a referee around…

The Match

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26-45 is a lot of points, which means a lot of tries.

Lots of tries means lots of missed tackles.

Sefton did well in the scrums and the lineouts, but struggled when the quick Ellesmere backs got going.

There was some good passages of play, with the rucking, and holding onto the ball, but the Port defense was pretty good.

The Turning Point

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At precisely 14:31, when the Ref finally turned up, the game changed completely.

From then on, the game was a closely fought contest, both sides traded tries and there was nothing in the game.

Before that though, it was different….

At 14:14, Campo had worked out that the referee wasn’t showing up, so he armed himself with a whistle and got the game underway.

Being the perfect host, Referee Campo was determined to gift his guests the run of the park, and within 15 minutes, Ellesmere Port had scored 3 tries, and led 19-nil.

So really, when the Real Ref officiated, the score was actually 26 all.

Kicking

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Today we did not have to endure the visceral embarrassment of watching Jonny Nevil attempting to kick a rugby ball.

For those who weren’t there, let me recall the 3s game of a few weeks ago, and the 2s last week at Widnes...

Crucial turning points, of course, in both games.

Jon has been looking sharp at fullback in both defence and attack.

Keep it simple and run to the red, white and black shirts.

Whatever possessed him to consider a returning kick is beyond me.

    Has he access to the YouTube?

    He can’t have seen Jay Evans in the 1s can he?

Anyway, Jon clearly felt that he should add to his very short repertoire: the “kick and chase”.

Jon’s method is unique.

It involves throwing the ball well in front of him, and hoping that it collides with his legs.

All at a fairly high speed.

Unfortunately, the ball flight did not exactly coincide with Jon’s legs (understandable, if you’ve seen Jon try to pass), resulting in Jon running past the lonely, bouncing ball.

This method is fairly random, and it’s success rate is currently 0 from 2.

But God likes a trier.

Sefton 2s and 3s don’t like triers though, especially when they’re standing in their in goal line watching conversions being taken.

One positive was that Jon’s daughters weren’t present (and that they don’t read Match Reports).

Quiet words have been passed, and Jon is now more than aware of the Kicking Policies in both the 3s and the 2s teams.

It is safe to say that the 1st Team Kicking Policies are irrelevant to our Jon.

So, hopefully, no one is every having to go through that ever again.   

The Trier’s Try

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Today, our hearts went out to Luke Griffiths.

Here is a man destined for the shadows, never in the lime light. A man who will never be covered in glory.

Luke has that uncanny ability to be involved, but no one remembers just what he did. I mean, one of Sefton’s few golden rules is “Don’t Pass it to Luke”.

Luke has told me about his fondness for Aussie Rules, where, when you shoot for goal, if you miss, but come close, you get a point. Its like a consolation thing.

I’m not too sure if Luke thinks there is the same kinda thing happening in Rugby Union, but the way he celebrated after crashing over the 22 and grounding the ball, he must have thought it was good for at least 2 points.

Luke seemed pretty content though, to see his name go down on the teamsheet afterwards, with a “half” written in the try column.

Injuries

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Today there were no injuries to talk of. This is not to say that people with injuries will get talked about (ok Goulding and Brendo? You won’t make the Match Report solely on being carried off).

Today, we can really be proud of Sefton’s “Injury Prevention” system, which seems to be working.

The system is pretty basic.

Sefton’s senior, experienced players are constantly monitoring and assessing the players around them, looking for potential risks and weaknesses.

JP McDonald is a massive risk, with a lot of weaknesses.

But this modern game is made for JP. With unlimited substitutions, whenever he stepped foot on the pitch, the call went out for another “JP replacement”. He is probably our most experienced sub now.

Man of the Match

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As usual, it was very difficult to identify the Player of the Match. A player that stood out from the rest, who played above themselve, lifted the team, and was a constant thorn in the opposition side.

As usual, no one stood out.

Today, with the dominance of the forwards in the set piece, it was only fitting that the front row got the joint award. Jack, Tom, Matty led us well into Fat Bottomed Girls.

Summation

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They say that training pays off, and, watching the lads today, I couldn’t disagree.

I would go further and say that not training does not pay off.

The 3rds were very poor in defence, letting in far too many soft tries.

We had a chance to impress today, being the only Sefton team playing, at home in front of a crowd swelling into double figures.

Unfortunately, the crowd was disappointed, and will have to wait yet another weekfor a rare Sefton win.

Campo xx