This started life as a third team fixture but in the end we added some second teamers simply to get out a team due to the bank and summer holidays.
Played at Keyham on an afternoon that turned out really nicely after a mixed earlier day of rain and sun.
Good to see Tony Sibley has bought a pair of bright yellow boot for the season, clearly he has not retired yet.
“How old are you?” I asked him.
“54” he replied.
That’s a good age to still be playing, good for him.

The game started with Newcross putting pressure on us for the first fifteen minutes preventing us getting any traction.
We eventually got moving but then came up against a determined defence that again stymied our moves and caused us in to all sorts of unforced errors.
Our first possible try chance came after about twenty five minutes when Dan Cooper ran hard for the corner and thought he had just made it before being pushed in to touch. He was judged to have hit the corner flag first.

A short while after our scoring was opened. We won a close in lineout, the forwards mauled forward but only for six feet or so, the Newcross forwards stopped then turned it sideways still in perfect formation, the ball went to the backs and the speedy Toby Moss, sporting a new hair style, came in from outside their twenty-two and touched down halfway out from the posts. Matt Anstis converted it. 7~0.

Just before the break Newcross had a spell inside our twenty-two and attacked our line a number of times, they eventually cracked the defence to score and added the conversion to level the score at half time. 7~7.

We have not been playing well at all, just not getting it together as a team, rusty is probably the word. We probably should have been three or four tries up, but to some extent that is in part due to the Newcross defence.
Our scrums are well on top but we are only just on top in the mauls. Lineouts are going well.

Five minutes in and we scored our second. From a scrum we sent the ball to the backs, a few goes at their line came to nothing then it went to Oli Knapman who did cross to score. Another veteran of Services rugby Matt Anstis, stepped up with confidence and put the ball over the crossbar. 14~7.
So the score remained for the next twenty minutes. We had much more of the possession and territory, Newcross did occasionally get in to our twenty-two but our tackling was, for the most part, good.
Cam Donkin, I think, got over the line and looked to me and my camera to have scored, but the referee said held up.
They dropped out, we took the ball and played around with it in the middle of the pitch just in their half, then it went to Ron Duffield who was loitering on the left wing who ran in to score, Matt Anstis converted, 21~7.
After this we seemed to start to get it together and realise it is best played as a team game. The score line started to accelerate.
Toby Moss scored his second when he broke out from halfway with an interception, I fancy, to score under the cross bar. He converted his own try with a drop goal. 28~7.
Then a little moment to enjoy, In our own half Matt Anstis managed to steal their ball and break through their line, there he was out in the open, an empty field in front of him, defenders going the wrong way.
He started to go for the try line and glory half a pitch away, then clearly though the better of it and put in a long grubber kick, ‘you don’t get older without getting wiser’ I thought when he did it, the ball bobbled on, one of their defenders got back to it inside their twenty-two but so did two of our younger players and between them they pushed the defender in to touch.
From the lineout we put it to the backs, there were a couple of goes at the line then to Matt Anstis midfield, he sold the most outrageously obvious dummy that fooled the two defenders and nearly got in under the crossbar.
It went out to the right again for Ron Duffield to score his second with Toby Moss converting. 35~7.
Then we broke out of our own half for an all hands type of move up the pitch, Isaiah Akinrowo getting well into their twenty-two, on the left wing. Tackled it went back infield and forwards for Josh Martin the one to end the move with a try. Matt Anstis converted.
Newcross did have one last surge at our line for a few minutes but it came to nothing and the full time whistle called an end to the afternoons entertainment.

Credit to Newcross playing with not much more than bare number, they did well in defence and spoiling our game, and that kept the score close for all but the last fifteen minutes.