Pinner 1st XV versus Belsize Park match report

Pinner vs. Belsize Park

On Saturday 29^th of January Pinner and Grammarians travelled away to Regents Park to face the notoriously tough Belsize Park. Conditions were favourable but perhaps a little cold, leaving the ground fairly hard. The last time these two sides met Pinner took a fairly heavy battering, meaning they were eager to have another go.

Immediately both teams battled hard for dominance, but it was Belsize who maintained most of the possession. Defending hard, Pinner gave them very little to work with in the forwards, so the ball was pushed out wide in an attempt to crack the line there. However, the mobility of Pinner’s back row and the tenacity of their centres denied Belsize’s attempts at opening the score board.

The attack tiring, Pinner stole the ball on various occasions, quickly gaining back the ground they had lost while defending. Silly mistakes often cost them possession and spectators were left watching the play go back and forth.

The ball being hotly contested, it led to numerous infringements from both sides, but eventually Pinner gave away a penalty within kicking range that the fly-half duly converted. Back at the restart, Pinner fired at Belsize and pushed at them hard, exploiting their superiority in open play. In the confusion amongst the defence, Pinner soon found themselves with a large overlap which they quickly took advantage of. Shipping the ball out, centre Alex Goring gave himself half a yard of space with an open channel in front of him. Switching on the gas, he powered to the line and left Belsize getting worried. Converted to make 3-7.

After this, things slowed down somewhat and Belsize played to their advantage. Picking and driving on the fringes, Pinner were being pushed down-field. Having had enough of the various infringements from both sides, the referee started cracking down hard on questionably legal play, much to the disadvantage of Pinner. All the defence eventually took its toll on the away team and the Belsize 8 man eventually broke through to go under just to the right of the sticks. The conversion was successful.

The rest of the first half saw both teams trading blows in close play and the backs getting cold.

Strong words were shared with the teams by both sides during half time and both teams wanted desperately to swing the play in their favour from the off. It was Pinner who came off on top, directing the flow and showing off their strong support play. Eventually, Pinner’s strategy paid off and they were awarded a penalty yards from the line. Rather than go for the sticks, the tap was taken and the ball given to captain Sibilant. Cutting diagonally through the line, Belsize were unable to stop him which gave Pinner 5 more points on the board and a useful morale boost.

Not wanting to be out done, Belsize responded soon after with the help of their backs. It had become a game very much defined by the passage of open play, and the territory was exchanged expansively. Belsize eventually managed to secure possession in Pinner’s twenty two, however, and the defence was exploited on the blindside where they touched down in the corner. 15-12

Both teams were now starting to flag from the brutal encounter and it seemed, at times, as if the injured players spread evenly around the pitch told the expansiveness and tenacity of the game better than the action itself. Belsize were worse off in this regard, and Pinner punished them heavily by gaining ground at a rate of knots. Hammering the already battered defence, the faithful Bernie Richter ploughed through tackle attempts to touch down in the far right. 15-17 with 8 minutes on the clock.

All Pinner had to do now was keep them out and they did so with gruelling tenacity. Maintaining possession and crawling their way up the field for 5 of those long minutes, the referee seemingly had had enough of the slow play and gave possession to Belsize. Their attacks were faltered again and again, much to their despair and annoyance, but eventually their break came through Pinner’s own failings. Defending in the middle of the park, the clock was over 80 but still in play and eagerness to put the nail in coffin got the better of Pinner’s discipline. Spotting hands in the ruck, the referee awarded a penalty, which the fly half kicked succesfully to the audible sighs of relief from the Belsize boys. Final score – 18-15 in Belsize Parks favour.

A disappointing result for Pinner, but a Stirling performance from all involved. Now is the time to build on the platform created this week and finish the season in a positive and progressive way.

Saturday, 29 January 2011
Belsize Park	18 – 17	Pinner & Grammarians
Ickenham	23 – 10	London French
Old Merchant Taylors’	23 – 18	Uxbridge
Old Millhillians	34 – 7	Quintin
Royston	20 – 3	Old Isleworthians

Herts/Middlesex 2	Short Format Long Format
Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Millhillians 13 12 0 1 359 139 220 6 54 0 Royston 14 9 1 4 239 154 85 8 46 0 Old Merchant Taylors’ 13 8 2 3 313 163 150 9 45 0 Belsize Park 13 8 1 4 252 186 66 6 40 0 Ickenham 13 7 1 5 237 136 101 7 37 0 Old Isleworthians 13 7 0 6 252 247 5 2 30 0 Pinner & Grammarians 12 5 0 7 244 285 -41 6 26 0 London French 13 4 0 9 204 220 -16 6 22 0 Quintin 12 3 1 8 150 252 -102 4 18 0 Uxbridge 12 3 0 9 181 367 -186 2 14 0 Old Tottonians 12 1 0 11 80 362 -282 1 0 -5

Level 1 coaching certificate dates update

There are now published latest dates for completing the RFU Level 1 coaching certificate in Middlesex.

This course is available to any player/parent or current coaching members who have completed their Rugby Ready course earlier this season @ Pinner. The following have completed their Rugby Ready and are eligible:

Andy Nash, Angus Wilson, Brad Seiler, Chris Jepsen, Dom Wright, Graham Machell, Joshua Reed, Ollie Blazey, Philip Bristow, Reza Sibilant, Simon Whitcombe, Richard Evans

Below are the following dates, applications have to made individually via the RFU website

When:

Induction Eve 2^nd March  

Practical Days

6^th & 27th March 2011

Where:

Isleworth & Syon School

Ridgeway Road
Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 5LJ

Applications made no later than:

15^th February 2011

Course Application Process

Please submit your application form and payment as early as possible (and no later than 21 days prior to the start of the course) to the Regional Coaching Centre as your place cannot be confirmed without both of these. Joining instructions will be sent to you within two weeks of the course start date.

Due to the need to provide and pay for facilities, resources and delivery staff, full or part refunds may not be available to candidates who withdraw or who do not attend. Please refer to the course application form for further details.

Payment

Cheques: Please submit your application form together with a cheque payable to “RFD Ltd” and send to the regional Coaching Centre.

Credit Cards: Please email / post your application and then telephone 0208 831 7499

(Monday to Friday between 09:00 & 17:00 hours only) to pay by Visa, MasterCard and/or Debit Card.  Unfortunately, we do not accept American Express.

Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Rugby Union      £105 (incl. VAT)

Please note you will need to complete the Goodyear Rugby Ready (“Safety”) practical course before starting your Level One course.  Please send a copy of your IRB Goodyear Rugby Ready Certificate with your completed application form.

LEVEL 1 COACHING AWARD – 21 hours (2 ½ days)

Course description:
This course provides an introduction to rugby union and the principles of safe, ethical and effective management and coaching of young people, as an assistant under the supervision of a qualified coach. It offers an opportunity for aspiring rugby union coaches to develop their knowledge of how to coach a local club team or similar effectively, either via the modified game of mini/midi or 15-a-side play. The Award sits within the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate.

Course content:
At the end of the course, successful candidates will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• generic coaching skills
• rugby specific coaching skills
• coach and player development
• good practice in club management and coaching
• health and safety
• working with parents, attitudes and ethics
• basic laws of rugby union.

Resources provided:
Candidate pack and a variety of learning materials, including a Level 1 Certificate Coaching Rugby Union (L1CCRU) handbook coaching DVD and Law Book.

Qualification gained:
L1CCRU Certificate.

Eligibility:
Minimum age 16.
Qualified teachers, trainee teachers and AOTTs.
It is recommended that coaches have a two year playing or coaching background, or have worked in coaching for one season since attending a Tag or Mini / Midi course.

Assessment:
The internal assessment component is conducted alongside candidates’ programmes of training, and includes planning and delivering a coaching session and delivering a number of pre-planned sessions as outlined by the tutor. There is also an internally assessed open book, multi-choice test.

Practical/theory Ratio:
General mix of practical and theory.

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Pelicans Victory 19-12 versus Belsize Park 3rd XV

Pinner Pelicans secured their first victory in an excellent game. The match report will follow shortly as soon as it hot off the press it will be published here. For the time being here are some of the photographs from the match. Also still waiting on First XV match report………

Match Report:

It has been some time since Pinner Rugby Club was able to field two sides on the same day, the first XV playing a league fixture away to Belsize Park RFC and the Pelicans at home to Belsize Park 3rd XV. It shows how the club is developing. A real buzz about the place is becoming infectious, with players past and present wanting to wear the blue and red of Pinner RFC.

Pinner Pelicans:

Whilst waiting for the referee to arrive the teams prepared for the match. Belsize Park, a highly trained and fit looking outfit could be heard shouting their ‘battle cries’ of “lets ‘ave ‘em boys” and “do it for your club and your team’ , on the other half, however, could be heard the laughter and banter of a very relaxed team, who were out to enjoy themselves and play good rugby. From the kick off, both teams hit common ground, each keen to get hold of the ball, make crunching tackles and support each other on the new pitch (I think that it was the first time it has been used since it has had all the drainage work completed – it lost its virginity to twenty two men focused on gamesmanship, skill and apart from the odd dropped ball a quality game.

The first twenty minutes saw both teams cancel themselves out with constant interruptions from the whistle, this was a game where a fluid passing was trying to break through only to be pulled back time and time again.

The result of this saw many scrums in which Pinner held their ground, great pack work enabled the combination of number 8 Angus ‘the goose’ Wilson and scrum half Graeme Searle to pass the ball cleanly to the centres Fat Paul and Chris ‘Chris’ Hall at every opportunity to push Pinner deep into the oppositions’ half from their accurate kicking boots; it was a shame that they didn’t look around them before doing so, the likes of Tampon, Feed the Phil and Skelly really do not have the pace, the legs, the stealth like figures to actually run that far within the allotted game time of 80 minutes, let alone chase a beautifully flighted ball over the oppositions fullback. This was of course a cunning plan; it’s so cunning you can brush your teeth with it! Handling errors by Belsize in fact two knock -ons in quick succession gave Pinner the put in twenty yards from the opposition try line. The scrum played its part in securing the ball and with fairly quick thinking saw the ‘goose’ spread his wings and dart for the line, he went over a try for Pinner. The conversion attempt went wide, but with points on the board, well an A5 notepad, the game had kicked into scoring life. This gave Belsize the push they needed and they started to thread the ball out to the centres and onto the wing. One or two tackles later, well near misses, and Belsize ran through to equal the score, their kicking proving to be as wayward as Pinners earlier conversion attempt (apologies Fat Paul!). By half time the score was 5-5, the crowd had swelled and now the game was being watched by many faithful if misguided members, the heavy breathing not just coming from the unfit Pinner team but by the movement caused by having to walk up and down the touchline for forty minutes!

Between them, sir Les and Skelly rallied the players, calls for more aggression in the tackles (can’t name who might of said that!) and a belief that the game was Pinners for the taking. How right they were, they had a plan – Doing precisely what they done eighteen times before and try to catch up with the ball!

The second half got under way with Pinner on the attack, dominating rucks and working the ball wide to give Jim and Ollie (taking the mantle of Jepsen especially after being smashed in the first half or in fact it was like looking at a fly being swatted, only joking, his valiant effort in trying to stop what would have been a possible try by putting his body in the way of a man twice his weight and size showed the commitment of this Pelicans team) the chance to break into a sweat and run with the ball, each time gaining ground for the forwards to build on. The game continued in this vain and with the use of the whistle again interrupting what was becoming a very good contest Pinner moved closer to the opposition line. Quick hands and almost as quick minds moved the ball to an oncoming ‘Goose’ at speed who tore through the defence to place the ball over for Pinners second try. (worried spectators saw him run sideways for sometime and even one thought he ran backwards, but judging by the slaps on his back and the resounding cheers and whoops he got there must have been some forward direction!). At last, the silky boots of Fat Paul had returned to his feet via his legs and with calm aplomb put the ball between the posts. This was it, points ahead, 12-5, injuries started to unfold, Hugo hurt and hobbling off, Skelly being lifted off, Angus down and bloody nose, Tampon limping/almost crawling/grimacing but heyho, they were in the lead, they couldn’t let it slip away at this point.

Pinner were now pinned deep in their own half, tackle after tackle being made, the forwards working in pairs to close down play, not giving up any loose ball. Errors upon errors were being penalised and the game didn’t appear to move forwards or backwards only side wards to use fresh grass for scrumages!

Then something quite amazing happened, this one has to go down in the hall of fame of Pelican tradition (this is a new thing and will probably not happen or be mentioned again – I fear this won’t be the case!!)…………

Belsize advanced in numbers carrying the ball ten metres from the Pinner line, fierce tackling brought the play down into a ruck, Graeme prised the ball out and pop passed it to Skelly, who with his years of experience, knowledge and incredible skill (that’s what he asked me to write) saw a small gap in the defence, with light feet and a very slight side step ran through, fending off a tackle he gallantly passed the ball to Andy ‘six more years’ Wright who had one thing and one thing only on his mind – yes he was Forest Gump, running from what could be described in rugby terms as his ‘living room’ set about to achieve the impossible, keeping no further than two feet from the touchline he majestically headed towards the half way line, with the crowds now amazed and shouting encouragement (Mr Greenwood) he went even further. In hot pursuit was their outside centre who made a valiant attempt to tap Andy Wrights ankle, but with a little hop skip and jump avoided it, looking briefly for support (did he expect any!- see earlier comments) he ran towards the line, shouts of under the posts were blatantly ignored the pure rush of running that distance with the ball now overtaking any thought of placing the ball for an easy conversion saw him cross the line – a try to Pinner (mainly down to two remarkable players!!!!!). Even from this narrow angle ‘Fat Paul’ kicked it over the horizontal to take it to an impressive 19-5

As with most of the Pinner games, the last five to ten minutes provides a little squeaky bottom time for the players. Belsize were not going to go down without a fight, full concentration was now required by all the Pelicans, this, judging by the effort that had been put in was a little difficult. Silly errors allowed Belsize to win a series of penalties and edged towards the try line fast hands and passings brought the centres into play and despite some heroic efforts Pinner were not able to stop a well worked try, which was converted.

With the clock ticking and each member of the team pulling together handling errors went their way, Belsize lost their organisation which had shown to be of a high standard earlier in the match and this allowed Pinner Pelicans to make small advances into the opposition half.

Then it came, the whistle that had tormented the game now called time. Cheers and hugs were the order of the day, slapping of backs and more hugging was witnessed by a reducing crowd who had followed the direction of messrs Braithwaite and Greenwood to the clubhouse for refreshment!

A great game of rugby, played with good sportsmanship, surprising running and most importantly, the first victory for the Pelicans – whoop whoop – boom

Special mention goes to:

Philip ‘Feed the Phil’ Bristow – Man of the Match

Tries: Angus ‘Goose’ Wilson x2

Andy ‘six more years’ Wright

Conversions: Paul ‘fat Paul’ James x2

Debutant: Niall ‘I’ll sip it’ Halsall

C*ck of the match: Paul ‘fat Paul’ James; kicking the ball side ways 14 inches under no pressure!

Team:

Sir Les, Andy Wright, Tampon, Hugo, Muggins, Feed the Phil, Chris ‘Chris’ Hall, Naill, Skelly, Graeme, Ollie, Gordy, Nigel, Jim, Angus, Fat Paul

Next fixture: 3 weeks time

Six Nations Fantasy League is now up and running/1st round table

Hi all

Same as last year, I have set up our own league within the ESPN scrum fantasy league: there’s got a beer in it for the overall winner!

Last year a had a select number and hopefully this year we can add a few names just to make it interesting. If you are keen and think you have a sound knowledge of International Rugby(!) sign up, its free and could be fun especially taking the urine out of the wooden spoon member.

Any member of Pinner Rugby Club is welcome from the under 6 players to seniors.

Here’s the link:

http://scrumrugby.fantasyleague.com/Index.aspx

You will need a League PIN number which I can give you if you drop an email to me: paultalbot17@gmail.com

Good Luck

		Manager	Team Name	Tries	Assists	Pts
1		Reza Sibilant	The Rez Men	5	0	71
2		Mark Razzell	We serve king Razzell	2	2	69
2		Stuart Cooper	Brawn Beats Brains	2	2	69
4		Richard Ward	High Barnet RFC	4	1	63
5		paul talbot	spud-u-like	1	1	34

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Pinner undone by break-away tries.

The match report will follow shortly, however in the mean time enjoy some of the images from the match:

As requested, by himself, and using a wide angled lens to make sure that all of his muscles would fit within the frame, Chris Jepson shows us why he can slide down inside a drainpipe without touching the sides!

Pinner undone by break-away tries.

Pinner entertained the former London Division side Old Merchant Taylors at Shaftesbury Playing Fields on Saturday. From the kick-off the home side exerted considerable pressure on the visitors who had won the earlier encounter in October but penalties and mishandling again nullified scoring opportunities.  After ten minutes the OMT’s won a scrum on the half-way line.  James Hilliary sprinted down the right touch-line and score in the corner. Fly-half P. Trampp added the two points to give the visitors a 7 – 0 lead.  The pattern of the match was already set with Pinner exerting strong forward pressure and considerable territorial advantage only for the speed and precision of the OMT’s backs to be the deciding factor.  P&G’s pressure did bring rewards with No 8 Bernie Richter and acting captain Simon Whitcombe prominent. With the first quarter nearly done Richter got the ball to fellow flanker Warren Woad who went on a characteristic rampaging run to score on the left. Pinner’s conversion was unsuccessful. Near the half-hour P&G’s conceded yet another penalty for lying on the ball and without their inspirational captain Reza Sibilant to marshal the defence OMT’s took the opportunity to run through the Pinner backs for No. 11 Freddie Taylor to score the first of his three tries.  Trampp again added the two points.   The home side responded with a series of attacks but again poor discipline at the ruck gave OMT’s a penalty on their own 22.  Fly-half Trampp showed his all round kicking skill by returning the ball to the Pinner 5 m line. On half-time OMT’s were awarded another penalty but this time it was unsuccessful leaving the half time score at 14 – 5 to the visitors.

Soon into the second half P&G’s lost their full-back who was replaced by Adrien Boue and a penalty attempt by Paul James narrowly missed the posts. With ten minutes gone and Pinner still exerting pressure in the OMT’s half the ball was lost. The OMT’s backs quickly seized the chance for a break-away which was finished off by Taylor with Hilliary pushing the score to 21 – 5.  The next twenty minutes were rather scrappy with P&G’s doing most of the attacking but failing to score. The referee’s influence was felt by both sides when he issued a yellow card to Gwyn Davies of Pinner followed eight minutes later with one to OMT’s.  For the rest of the game the home team mounted attack after attack only to be held up near the line and on the half-hour they drove over only to have the try disallowed. However their next attack was rewarded when prop and Captain Simon Whitcombe drove forward for scrum-half Steve Griffiths to score an unconverted try.  Yet another attack went wrong as an attempted chip over the OMT’s backs on the half-way line was charged down to allow Freddie Taylor to run in his third try which again was converted by Trampp. With full time approaching Pinner still kept on attacking and a kick forward was gather by replacement full-back Adrien Boue’ to score the home sides third try.  Paul James at last succeeded with the conversion giving a final score of 28 – 17 to the visitors.

Next week P&G’s visit Belsize Park yet another of the stronger opponents.

Saturday, 22 January 2011
Belsize Park	14 – 0	Royston
London French	13 – 19	Old Isleworthians
Old Tottonians	0 – 16	Ickenham
Pinner & Grammarians	17 – 28	Old Merchant Taylors’
Uxbridge	8 – 46	Old Millhillians

Herts/Middlesex 2	Short Format Long Format
Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Millhillians 12 11 0 1 325 132 193 5 49 0 Royston 13 8 1 4 219 151 68 7 41 0 Old Merchant Taylors’ 12 7 2 3 290 145 145 8 40 0 Belsize Park 12 7 1 4 234 169 65 6 36 0 Ickenham 12 6 1 5 214 126 88 7 33 0 Old Isleworthians 12 7 0 5 249 227 22 2 30 0 Pinner & Grammarians 11 5 0 6 227 267 -40 5 25 0 London French 12 4 0 8 194 197 -3 6 22 0 Quintin 11 3 1 7 143 218 -75 4 18 0 Uxbridge 11 3 0 8 163 344 -181 1 13 0 Old Tottonians 12 1 0 11 80 362 -282 1 0 -5

Pinner’s winning streak comes to an end, plus photos

P&G’s made the short journey to Headstone Lane on Saturday to take on Herts/Middx 2 league leaders Old Millhillians. It was the Hatch End side’s first league match of 2011 and their first for over a month. In the earlier encounter in October P&G’s had been soundly beaten and were determined not let this happen again. Immediately from the kick-off Pinner were penalised for lying on the ball in a ruck and OM’s fly-half Joe Askham put the home side ahead. Penalties abounded and soon it was Pinner’s opportunity to equalise but the kich proved beyond full-back Mark Razzel’s range. However P&G’s were not to be denied and, winning the ball on the OM’s 22 it was fed through several hands before scrum-half Steve Griffiths was driven over to score under the posts. This time Razzel made no mistake to give the visitors a 7 – 3 lead. Five minutes later the referee awarded yet another penalty, this time to OM’s, and Askham brought the scores closer. With the half-hour approaching a clever chip over the Pinner defence let winger Sean Hardy in for a try near the right touch-line. The conversion failed but the score moved to 11 – 7. In recent months P&G’s have shown a great deal of resilience and immediately responded. Winning a scrum on their own 10m line scrum-half Griffiths made a break to feed Warren Woad on the half-way. The powerful flanker stormed up field before passing to Craig Lane whose pace was too much for the home defence. This gave P&G’s a deserved half-time lead of 12 – 11.

The second half started with a series of penalties but within five minutes OM’s had kicked forward with the bounce deceiving the pinner defence to let Michael James in for a home try which was not converted. Old Millhillians now gave evidence of why they are the league leaders. The referee, showing some lack of knowledge of the laws, missed a deliberate knock into touch and failed to award a mark when Lane caught a penalty kick inside his own 22. Following yet another penalty at a ruck OM’s moved the ball out to the right for Rory Higgins to go over for their third try. With score now 21 – 12 to the home team Pinner mounted a series of spirited attacks but the OM’s defence held. Two further penalties for alleged offences at rucks took the game away for Pinner to give the home team a final score of 24 -12.

Next Saturday P&G’s play hosts to Old Merchant Taylors at Shaftesbury Playing Fields Hatch End.

Saturday, 15 January 2011
Ickenham	8 – 10	Quintin
Old Isleworthians	61 – 0	Old Tottonians
Old Merchant Taylors’	26 – 30	Belsize Park
Old Millhillians	27 – 12	Pinner & Grammarians
Royston	3 – 15	London French

Herts/Middlesex 2	Short Format Long Format
Team P W D L F A Diff B Pts Pts Adjust Old Millhillians 11 10 0 1 279 124 155 4 44 0 Royston 12 8 1 3 219 137 82 7 41 0 Old Merchant Taylors’ 11 6 2 3 262 128 134 7 35 0 Belsize Park 11 6 1 4 220 169 51 6 32 0 Ickenham 11 5 1 5 198 126 72 7 29 0 Old Isleworthians 11 6 0 5 230 214 16 2 26 0 Pinner & Grammarians 10 5 0 5 210 239 -29 5 25 0 London French 11 4 0 7 181 178 3 5 21 0 Quintin 11 3 1 7 143 218 -75 4 18 0 Uxbridge 10 3 0 7 155 298 -143 1 13 0 Old Tottonians 11 1 0 10 80 346 -266 1 0 -5

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Pelicans v Old Isleworthians RFC

It must have been the first of the New Year – sunshine, clear blue skies and some keen rugby players wishing to remove a few of those festive pounds. Pinner Pelicans travelled to Old Isleworthians RFC for a friendly fixture. During the week many had replied to ‘Sir Les’ making themselves available to play, unfortunately many had to attend the training session back at P&G HQ in preparation for the 9 games on the trot coming up; shame as a run out would of blown away a few cobwebs and not left the Pelicans slightly embarrassed turning up to a fixture short of a full team. Being the nice sort that Vet players are and keen to get a game Pelicans ‘borrowed’ a few of the opposition to allow the game to go ahead.

After some shifting about and people claiming where they wanted to play the ref blew the whistle; the game, surprisingly started with blistering pace!  The first ten minutes had both packs trying to push through each other both sides cancelling it out with some great rucks and mauls. The centres were given much of the ball after this with Pelicans selecting to place long kicks deep into the oppositions twenty two – Paul James finding his kicking boot very effective at putting Old Isleworthians under the cosh many times. There was some terrific interplay between scrum half Graeme Searle coming back from an injury and Ollie Blazey who when he received the ball only had one thing in mind –to run forward at great pace leaving many of the older members having to dig deep into their memories of how they used to do that and try and catch up!

Pelicans defended the line brilliantly on a number of occasions but with increased pressure finally could not catch an Old Isleworthians on the wing and a try was given and not converted. The half ended with Pelicans having to work hard in their own twenty two and disappointedly let in another try.

The second half saw Pelicans facing this unusual thing called the sun; it was bright, warming and to be honest given the fact that most of the Pelicans players require the use of spectacles to see their hands at the end of their arms found it a little off putting (this is not an excuse about the second half play) but merely a comical interlude!

With a few changes to personnel,  the second half got under way. At this point special mention should be made to Richard ‘Muggins’ Hall who played in the second row with great effect, produced some incredible runs drawing the opposition every time and collected every ball at the line out he had a magnificent game. Despite his efforts and that of everyone else the second part of the half saw Old Isleworthians run in three tries and converted a couple of times.

It was great to see the Pelicans run out again and hopefully we will see more of it in the future.

Player of the match: Sir Les Chaffe outstanding tackling, covering the fullback (D Hiles lookalike in every way) and for breaking in his new padded shoulder skin!

C**K of the week: Ollie Blazey, who after committing a high tackle went back to the guy on the floor asked if he was alright and then told him and the ref he was a registered first aider if it was any help – oh dear!

Pelicans:  Graeme, Fat Paul, Lee, Gordy (Subs please), Sir Les, Muggins, Feed the Phil, Ollie, Heathcliffe, Gav the Griff, Jigsy and late arrival Dodge Davies. Supported by a few