19/10/13 Ashford Barbarians 83 GRFC Swans 0
On a glorious day for rugby, a de facto Moles XV travelled down the M20 to take on the recently formed Ashford Barbarians in support of fellow Mole and Swans' (GRFC Vs) skipper Dave 'Posty' Patterson.
Upon finding the Barbarians' clubhouse, small pitch and 'sawn off 'posts sharing their location with facilities related to the round ball code, the Swans initially wondered whether the rugby team had arrived yet on the basis that everyone in the clubhouse appeared to be under the age of 30. Unfortunately they had and the fifteen players whose nickname isn't Posty collectively thought, "This is another fine mess you've got us into Posty!"
First job for the 'Swoles' was to remove a load of dog poo from their end of the pitch. In contrast, it appeared as if the Barbarians had all trod in what they found at their end as they basked in the fortune of being able to easily expose the relative inexperienced and limited physicality of the Swans' backline in little more, if not less, than 60 seconds. This set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon with the Gravesend forwards battling hard to win the ball, and at times making forays deep into the Barbarian half, but more often than not coming out second best to the Barbarians' youthful strength and pace at the set pieces, rucks and mauls. It later emerged that this was a true Barbarian set up and that some of that youthful strength and pace came from four Dover and two Ashford 1st team players who were gameless this Saturday.
Nevertheless, and in true Gravesend RFC style, the Swans' heads refused to drop and every member of the 16 man squad who travelled gave nothing less than100% commitment to the cause.
The dressing room afterwards was morbidly silent for about five seconds until Elvis the loosehead settled into his corner and piped up, "Actually, I quite enjoyed that!" to be immediately seconded by Boggy and the rest of the thick forwards all relishing in a day of maximum contact in terms of tackling and minimal contact with the ball. The backs looked on astonished at such jollity in the wake such a heavy defeat as they removed their Max Factor compacts from the 'vallies bag'.
As always, there were a number of positives to take from the fixture:
Players' 'Man of the Match' Merv Fowler playing at 9 for the first time in many years and being the embodiment of
the Swans' 'never give up' spirit!
Rookie 10 Graeme 'Shotgun' Trigg's kicking was consistently good all afternoon; although to be fair he had quite a lot of opportunities to practice his kicking from re-starts in this match!
Moles' skipper Mick Terry's first game in the pack since his school days when the world was in black and white. "It was nice not
too be cold for a change" said Mick!
Moles' stalwart Gordon 'Q' McQuade at full back: rarely troubled under the high ball in wet conditions. This may have
been because the oppo had no reason to resort to kicking the ball, but nonetheless!
Finally, the second row of 'Big' Brian Williams and 'Big' Bobby Butler made their oppo look exactly what they were in the post
match 'drink off' (involving what can only be described as various detergents masquerading as shots, alcopops and a pint) - KIDS!
The fixture was a complete mis-match but played in a great spirit and despite their superiority, the Ashford Barbarian players, officials and supporters were nothing less than ladies and gentlemen on and off the pitch and will provide a great opposition for a more suitable GRFC XV in the future. We wish them all the best for their visit to the Old G's next week.
Later on, the majority of the team returned to the club to see Mole Harrington's band 'The Sunday Roast' perform a great set and of course partake in an ale or two with everyone looking forward to next week's official Moles fixture at home to Maidstone Vets. Proof
once again that the Moles are something much much more than a
rugby team!
Line Up: Elvis, Nod, Brucey, Big Bri, Boggy Butler, Mick Terry, Ork, Posty, Merv, Shotgun, Adam Jenkins, Neil Martin, Lloydy, Dandy, Q, Gerry Keenan
On a glorious day for rugby, a de facto Moles XV travelled down the M20 to take on the recently formed Ashford Barbarians in support of fellow Mole and Swans' (GRFC Vs) skipper Dave 'Posty' Patterson.
Upon finding the Barbarians' clubhouse, small pitch and 'sawn off 'posts sharing their location with facilities related to the round ball code, the Swans initially wondered whether the rugby team had arrived yet on the basis that everyone in the clubhouse appeared to be under the age of 30. Unfortunately they had and the fifteen players whose nickname isn't Posty collectively thought, "This is another fine mess you've got us into Posty!"
First job for the 'Swoles' was to remove a load of dog poo from their end of the pitch. In contrast, it appeared as if the Barbarians had all trod in what they found at their end as they basked in the fortune of being able to easily expose the relative inexperienced and limited physicality of the Swans' backline in little more, if not less, than 60 seconds. This set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon with the Gravesend forwards battling hard to win the ball, and at times making forays deep into the Barbarian half, but more often than not coming out second best to the Barbarians' youthful strength and pace at the set pieces, rucks and mauls. It later emerged that this was a true Barbarian set up and that some of that youthful strength and pace came from four Dover and two Ashford 1st team players who were gameless this Saturday.
Nevertheless, and in true Gravesend RFC style, the Swans' heads refused to drop and every member of the 16 man squad who travelled gave nothing less than100% commitment to the cause.
The dressing room afterwards was morbidly silent for about five seconds until Elvis the loosehead settled into his corner and piped up, "Actually, I quite enjoyed that!" to be immediately seconded by Boggy and the rest of the thick forwards all relishing in a day of maximum contact in terms of tackling and minimal contact with the ball. The backs looked on astonished at such jollity in the wake such a heavy defeat as they removed their Max Factor compacts from the 'vallies bag'.
As always, there were a number of positives to take from the fixture:
Players' 'Man of the Match' Merv Fowler playing at 9 for the first time in many years and being the embodiment of
the Swans' 'never give up' spirit!
Rookie 10 Graeme 'Shotgun' Trigg's kicking was consistently good all afternoon; although to be fair he had quite a lot of opportunities to practice his kicking from re-starts in this match!
Moles' skipper Mick Terry's first game in the pack since his school days when the world was in black and white. "It was nice not
too be cold for a change" said Mick!
Moles' stalwart Gordon 'Q' McQuade at full back: rarely troubled under the high ball in wet conditions. This may have
been because the oppo had no reason to resort to kicking the ball, but nonetheless!
Finally, the second row of 'Big' Brian Williams and 'Big' Bobby Butler made their oppo look exactly what they were in the post
match 'drink off' (involving what can only be described as various detergents masquerading as shots, alcopops and a pint) - KIDS!
The fixture was a complete mis-match but played in a great spirit and despite their superiority, the Ashford Barbarian players, officials and supporters were nothing less than ladies and gentlemen on and off the pitch and will provide a great opposition for a more suitable GRFC XV in the future. We wish them all the best for their visit to the Old G's next week.
Later on, the majority of the team returned to the club to see Mole Harrington's band 'The Sunday Roast' perform a great set and of course partake in an ale or two with everyone looking forward to next week's official Moles fixture at home to Maidstone Vets. Proof
once again that the Moles are something much much more than a
rugby team!
Line Up: Elvis, Nod, Brucey, Big Bri, Boggy Butler, Mick Terry, Ork, Posty, Merv, Shotgun, Adam Jenkins, Neil Martin, Lloydy, Dandy, Q, Gerry Keenan