By “Nutta”
Hail and well met to all you Scarlet Men out there,
After yet another week away from the liniment and studs (is this the most interrupted season in history?), the Blue Mountains did call and the DD did gird their loins and board their busses to make the trek westwards, to ford the Nepean river at Penrith and dare to climb to the fabled lands of Lapstone where the pinched pitch perches precariously on the hillside and the parking permutations take on Jenga proportions.
4th Grade (Judd Cup). Won 17-5.
Opening proceedings for the day, and taking the field against a Blue opponent that was of significant proportions both in experience and sheer girth, the Juddites certainly set things up well both for themselves and the club. In what one on-looker described as a battle of ‘Red David’s versus Blue Goliaths’, the scarlet men set about their work with grim determination and unfatiguing defence against an opponent whose backs proved undistinguishable from their forwards in both mass and speed.
Comments from Supercoach Hayward were that ‘Da Boyz’ showed ‘massive heart and mean spirits’ to ‘keep the pressure on’ against a team that were both sending significant kilos of flesh towards the red men in attack, but who were then also holding rock-steady defensively throughout the first half and into the second.
However, time and possession did tell and eventually the fitness and cohesion of a good pre-season bore fruit. The pressure had accumulated and the Blue Goats did eventually crack which led to back to back tries in the later stages of the second half to close out the game.
The points were shared about with 1pt going to Pat Zadow with a question about whether he should play hungover every weekend, 2pts to Tim ‘man of many hats’ Balshaw and 3pts to Oscar Sobb for a great all round game and a pie to cap it off.
With 3 wins from 4 starts, this is the best opening brace for the Fourthies in quite a few years. They sit 3rd on the ladder at 13pts, 4pts clear of 4th placed Waverly on 9pts, but 7pts behind Colleagues and Mosman who are tied on 20pts a-piece on-top of the table.
3rd Grade (Whiddon Cup). Lost 20-17.
This match between the two undefeated sides of the Whiddon universe was much anticipated by both clubs as they looked to stamp their respective marks on the season to come. However the preparations from the Red Men were hardly to the level desired, typified by a front row that was scraped together at best with Rabeeh clearly hobbled, myself even more deranged than usual (only this time by legitimate physiological illness) and Stuey Hammond answering the call to debut in the Hookers jersey.
That said, this Red team has undoubted quality. And so despite a sub-par batch of Fronties and other losses to the higher grades from Thursday (such is the lot of lower grades) the team took the field quietly confident they could ‘get the job done’ if they played to their game plan. Unfortunately, they did not play to their game plan. For despite opening with a cracking try in about the 7th minute, and repeating the effort not overly long thereafter, the Red Men were not putting the Blue Men away to bed as they should have done. Accordingly, whilst the result at oranges was a comfy 10-0 lead, there was nothing ‘commanding’ about the position.
And so the 2nd half commenced with the Blue Goats coming out seemingly a different side, only to be met by the Red Thirsties in a manner less than flat and seemingly quite happy to invite them to storm back into a game they should have been long shut out of. A fair bit of ‘ding dong’ play ensued, and with the Ref dealing yellow cards and holding court like some sort of deranged Darling Harbour Croupier, Will Brandon retired from the field with a gashed noggin’ and it fell to the returning Nick Scully to convert a mid half try and set the scores at 17-10 to the Red Men leading into the final stages of the match.
What happened from there is a matter of some controversy. However to avoid sinking into the acrid and foul details best left unsaid, the Blue Goats managed to draw level with an ‘at the death’ try and then, despite some herculean defensive efforts well after time, the Blueys snatched a completely inexplicable penalty from fresh air, only some 20yrds out and directly in-front of the Red goal posts. To their credit, the Blue Goats did not waste their gift-wrapped opportunity and they slotted the late penalty goal to take the day 20-17.
In the wash up, comments from Supercoach Scully were that ‘the squad will learn so much from this match’, that ‘everyone will benefit and improve from the experience’ and that there were some ‘massive efforts in a match which should have been won’. B&F went 1pt to Josh Davidson, 2pts to Stu Hammond and 3pts to Nic Scully.
The loss was even more lamentable given the Red Thirsties and Bluey’s had been vying for top-dog status. At 4 wins from 4 starts and on 18pts, Blueys now stand 3pts clear from the Red Thirsties who sit at 3 from 4 and 15pts and so 4pts clear of 3rd placed Mosman. Gentlemen, we want those bonus points.
1sts Colts (Barbour Cup). Won 50-33.
Consistent with the rest of the squads on-show throughout the day, the Blue Goats fielded a side that tipped the scales alarmingly more than the comparatively lightweights fielded by the Reds. Given that clear weight advantage, it speaks to the courage and the willingness of the Colts that they did not cede the contact zone for the duration of the match and in such commitment lay the foundations of the win.
Comments from Supercoach Ice was that this heart and commitment was typified by all, but particularly by Andrew Musillio who stuck his hand and 80kg frame up to wear the No1 jersey against an opponent who weighed in at easily 130kg, and he scarcely took a backward step all day.
In similar vein, the general defensive effort required of the Reds set the tone early with two-man gang tackles and commitment to the tackle zone being the order of the day. And such effort consistently snuffed whatever attack the Blues had in them before it developed too far.
Fortunately, the opposite was also true in attack, with the Red Men realising early that finding space would be far more productive than engaging in some sort of perverse Freudian arm-wrestle with such an out-sized opponent. This heralded ball movement with speed from the Red Colts and the lads set about scoring 8 pies with 5 squirts of sauce compared to the Blue Goats 5 pies with 4 squirts in what was a truly entertaining display of running rugby.
Now at 2 wins from 4 starts, the Barbours now sit dead-set mid table at 5th. They are 2pts behind Hunters Hill and 1pt ahead of Colleagues and 7pts behind 1st placed St Pats. Interestingly, they are 3pts behind 3rd placed Petersham, so this upcoming weekends match against the Shammies may well prove critical to their season to come.
2nd Grade (Burke Cup). Won 12-8.
With Jimmy Vuniwa cracking the scoring seemingly before the opening credits had finished rolling, duly sauced by Saul McCredie kicking his conversion from wide out, the 2nds were guilty of the Cardinal Sin of rugby – getting out to an early lead and losing focus. As such, whilst the lads spent the majority of the first half hard on-attack inside the Blueys quarter, they failed to convert that pressure to points. Accordingly, after bombing at least 4 try-scoring forays, the one pie and sauce was all the lads took into oranges.
Given the Blueys had been so invited via the scoreboard, the 2nd half was much more 50/50 with the Red Men having to repeatedly defend their try line with aggression and prejudice to prevent the Blueys from scoring. However the sheer volume of possession and repetition of the defensive effort was tough for the scarlet lads to maintain and eventually the Blueys found a combination that worked out wide and bagged themselves a pie but missed the sauce. 7-5.
The game degenerated a bit from there and was a dour back and forth affair. Our loss of discipline resulted in a penalty shot to them late in the second half and thus the Blueys duly kicked ahead to 8-7 with scarcely 5 minutes still on the clock.
With the 2nds lads clearly listening to Mick screaming from Lilydale in Victoria, the lads jockeyed down into the Blueys quarter and strung together enough phase pressure to eventually see Evan O Connor finally crash over in the corner to steal victory from the jaws of defeat at the death of the game.
3pts went to Corey Griffin, 2pts to Sione Takelo and 1 each to Billy Navoka and skipper Christian Vanezi.
To the victor goes the spoils and the win moves the Red Burkies to 3 wins from 4 starts and outright 1st spot on the ladder with 15pts, 1pt clear of Waverly on 14pts. However 1st through 4th on the ladder are all 3 wins from 4 starts, so again, bonus points are proving the difference.
1st Grade (Kentwell Cup). Lost 46-17.
Having a week off after a tough loss to Hunters Hill wasn’t ideal. However it did give a few players an extra week to recover from injury. Thus it was a full side in good spirits that took the field in-front of the Blue Mountains finest on a fine and sunny, if increasingly chilly Lapstone afternoon.
Blue Mountains were first to score as a poor exit from the kick-off gifted them too-easy territory and ball. However the Scarlets hit back soon after with a try to Winger Zech Browden to level the scores. Simply put though, the rest of the first half was a tale of missed opportunities and poor execution. There were too many unforced handling errors when we were hard on attack. And a misfiring lineout meant we were constantly scrambling on the back foot rather than building on the front foot.
Against that, the Blue Goats used their mountain of possession to bash away, finding gaps in the defence by sheer weight of possession if not by actual creativity, and keeping the scoreboard ticking over in their direction, eventually taking a 24-7 lead into half time.
By way of response, the poise and execution on display whilst grabbing an early second half pie to fullback James Westbury signalled some hope of a spark and comeback by the scarlets. However it was not to be with the Blue Goats being true to their mascot and continuing to win the contact zone and so then forcing and finding gaps in the defensive line. The Blue Goats added two further pies and even a rarely seen dropped goal to their platter, whilst we fumbled about with what opportunities we had not exploited until lock Alex Wilmore retrieved some respectability and snagged a late pie.
To be fair, the final 46-17 score line didn’t reflect the level of effort by the team. However rugby isn’t fair. Comments from the Supercoaches were that a lot of work needs to be done before we take on Petersham at Camperdown next week.
The loss leaves the Kentwellians at 2 wins from 4 starts and so 4th on table at 10pts, a measly 1pt above Colleagues in 5th and Waverly in 6th and some 5pts behind 3rd placed Mosman and 8pts adrift 1st placed Hunters Hill. So yes, work needs to be done and bonus points will surely be a focus from now on.
So there it is Cobbers. We went, we saw and we came away from the Blue Goats Ladies Day with mixed results. It was great to see Fourths and Colties get another win and certainly Seconds are starting to find their shape and form. Thirsties need to have a good hard look in the mirror after allowing the Blueys to come back into the match and Firsts are likely taking a knee and asking a few words of the Big Fella Upstairs as to where their form (and ball skills) have gone. But such is life and such is rugby.
Many thanks to Christian Vanezi and Co for the stellar efforts organising the busses and, given I haven’t had any calls (as yet) to don a gown and wig of any description, I can only assume the bus trips went without Constabulary interference of any description. Good job.
The season marches on. And so it is that we dust ourselves off and shape ourselves up for the comparative stroll this coming Saturday over to Petersham for the return leg against the Shammies.
Boire Le vin.
Nutta.
#dirtyreds #deeperthanblood
#dirtyreds #deeperthanblood
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