Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear....

From the sublime (and I use the term loosely)...

.... to the ridiculous, or as you might say, terrifying...

Match Report - Longlevens v Cirencester (6th April)

Longlevens 45 - 5 Cirencester

It was, yet again, as cold as an Eskimo's chuff at Longford Lane this morning, but at least the early snow cleared off the pitch, and with the somewhat plaintive 'I'm snowed in, in Hampshire' from Shaggy ringing in his ears, The Big Chap once again reffed us through the morning (once Matt had recovered his boots and whistle from the truck) - yet again, the body count was low and he kept up with play manfully throughout, despite a somewhat, ahem, difficult start to the day....




'Levens started well, with plenty of pressure on the left, with Bestie looking good at fullback and joining the line, Lewis 'Crazy Legs' Powell running hard and Joe Salkeld linking play well. However, 10 minutes in, something of an aberration from a linout on our 22 presented Cirencester with a golden opportunity - just needed to flop over the line onto the ball to make it 0-5.





The home team came back again, with Sam Lane powering off the base of the scrum, and displaying an impressive handoff on a number of occasions, and Sam Rees and CJ tacking everything that moved - the forwards moved up on the right, and then the backs put together a sweet move to the left, putting Bestie in at the corner for 5-5 at half time.

Worthy of note was the new instruction from the ref, not heard previously from any spectator, to crouchtouchholdengage....



The second half saw 'Levens pick up the pace, with slope and wind behind them, and only a couple of minutes in, Gabby went over to the left of the posts from close quarters - something I failed to see, unfortunately, as I was judging the snowman competition at the time.... Rory 'Lewis Hamilton hair' Woodward kicked the conversion for 12-5.




5 minutes later Mikey Yorke fielded a kick out from the Ciren 22 and, showing real pace, skinned the defence on the outside to go over in the corner for 17-5. Almost straightaway we were back in the Ciren 22, with Watto wading through defenders and plunging over the line for 24-5.

25 minutes in 'Levens were under pressure from Ciren, conceding penalties and showing some lack of discipline, but managed to keep the visitors out, then Shane O'Brien broke out from our 22 on the right, showing real pace, for 31-5. Almost immediately, not wanting to be outdone, Watto did the same, giving a beautiful dummy to fox the defence before putting Shane in again for 38-5.

Final action of the match was Taff crusing over for another try to make the final score 45-5...



Good to see the Parkers - turning up late and looking somewhat the worse for wear afte the Munster game - and no, this picture isn't out of focus - he did look this blurry....

Tour 2008 - Heroes & Villians

There's not much time left to make your choices and sort your outfits for Tour - here's the current scores on the doors....

Heroes:

Rory Woodward - Spiderman
Lewis Powell
Sam Lane - Rambo
Carole Watson
Chris Powick - Action Man
Rich Parker - Anikin Skywalker
Sam Rees - Virgil Tracy
Martin Woodward - Captain America
Mark Hartery - Shaggy
Andy Watson
Jamie Best - Indiana Jones
Karl Jones - Thor (I'm resisting 'Tho am I, but it wath worth it'....)
George Cusworth - James Bond
Helen Brown - Thelma
Shane O’Brien - Batman
Mike Yorke - Red Power Ranger
Dave Watson
Mike Bullock
Tom Reade - Maverick
Jed Jones - Wolverine

Villians:

Christian Hartery - Dalek Sec
Oliver Deacon
Dave Gabb
Ben Gabb
Nathan Hazard - The Godfather
Jake Williams - Darth Maul
Paul Watson
Nico Woodward - Saddam Hussein
Joe Salkeld - The Hitcher - Mighty Boosh
Fergus Walsh
Steve Parker - Jango Fett
Shaun Bullock
Steve Williams
Joe Gamston - Freddy Kruger
Brian Mince
Jacob Dyer
Phil Lane - Al Capone
Stu Stephenson - Darth Vader

Match Report - Longlevens v Old Reigatians (23rd March)

Longlevens 5 - 36 Old Reigatians

It was bright and sunny on Sunday morning, though once again as cold as an Eskimo's tailpipe, but hey, that's Spring for you... We had a match against a touring team - Old Reigatians from, er, Reigate which is somewhere near scenic Gatwick - news to me, as I'd have bet you good money it was on the coast in Kent - hey ho, what's a geography O Level worth these days, eh?? Correct.

The plan was to make sure everyone available got some game time, so there would be plenty of mixing and matching going on - as ever, the crowd couldn't wait for the game to get going....

Once they'd overcome certain, ahem, issues with the lifts in their hotel, and the fire brigade had departed, ORs (as I'll be calling them from now on) got well stuck in, and my notes (yes, I do take some) look a little like this:

11.05 Kick Off

11.06 OR score, good run from fullback 0-5

11.10 OR fullback breaks from own half 0-12

11.12 'Levens starting to play, interception from OR - try on right 0-17

11.15 OR try on right 0-22

'Levens were somewhat blitzed by this start, but did start to roll up their sleeves and work their way back into the match - Mikey Yorke put in a good run on the right, John Phillips was playing well at scrum half and Fergus Walsh showing some good touches, but OR had some good, big, quick lads, so they put in another score with 20 minutes gone - a great offload off the floor, despite a cracking covering tackle from Sam Rees - for 0-29.

Somewhat unfortunately OR also ran back the restart for 0-36, and a couple of minutes later we had the highlight of the first half (for the home team) when Jed Jones, playing at fullback, cleared out a ruck on the far side of the pitch with his now patented Exocet technique....

Changes were made at half time, and 'Levens played a far more physical game (Nico) - just about all of the play was in the OR half, with Messrs Cusworth, Rees, Salkeld and O'Brien putting in a great deal of hard work - lots of pressure, but no points until 10 minutes from the end when Chris Powick crashed over on the left for a final score of 5-36.

As they say, it's a game of 2 halves, and they won one, and we won the other, so we could call it a draw, apart from the fact that we clearly won the mulled Vimto drinking for MOTM as well, so a moral victory, n'est pas?? Seriously, well played to OR - a very good team... They beat Widden on Friday too - so they can't be all bad...

Couple of points - slightly worried by some pitch side goings-on (Grammar schools, eh??) and not too sure about the quality of the belt shown....

County Cup Widden OB - Longlevens (16th March)

Widden OB 22 - 22 Longlevens
(Widden go through, eventually, on tries scored)

Sorry for the delay in getting this up (phnar) - been busy at work, been a sickly boy (again!!) and have spent a considerable amount of time at GRH having people shine bright lights into my eyes - ideal!!

So, let's think back to last Sunday morning - I'm not saying it was cold at Widden OB's (or Beaufort School, as it turned out to be...) but Phil Lane (or Trapper John, as we may now start to call him) was asked for his coat by an Ursus Maritimus.... Nice to renew acquaintances with sundry Davies' (Davii??) and Gellerts (Gelleri??)

Longlevens started well, into the teeth of a brisk nor'easter putting on early pressure with runs from Chris Powick, Gabby and George Cusworth, among others, but Widden found their feet and came back strongly and opened the scoring 10 minutes in for 7-0.

'Levens again tried to come back into the game, and were awarded a penalty 20 minutes in on just outside the 22 on the left - in difficult conditions Rory Woodward slotted the kick for 7-3.

After coming back in, 'Levens rather went to sleep 5 minutes later and let Widden back in for a soft try on the right - 12-3. We carried on playing good rugby as the half drew to a close, with Shane O'Brien fielding a kick well on the right and running powerfully, with Gabby and Deacs providing good support.

In the second half we spilt an early opportunity close to the Widden line, and were punished when they went down the pitch to make the score 17-3. Yet again we didn't lie down though, and with the wind behind us exerted pressure on the Widden left - with the home team conceding repeated penalties and deploying some questionable tactics... Ben Gabb drove over for 17-8, and Rory slotted a superb conversion from wide out for 17-10.

20 minutes into the second half it looked as though the game was slipping away when Widden scored on the left to make it 22-10, but again we didn't give up, and kept the pressure on, with Rory scoring a try in the right corner for 22-15.

In the dying seconds of the game 'Levens attacked again with a very clever kick and chase (and score!!) from Taff Ford for 22-20, and Rory slotting another difficult conversion from wide on the left for 22-22 with the last play of the game...

After some uncertainty, it was thought that 'Levens had won as the away team in the tie, but eventually it was decided that Widden had won on tries scored.

Still, a credit to all the players, and an indication of what can be achieved - well done to everyone involved.

Competition: Which of these 2 is a winger, and which a forward who's just taken his scrum cap off??

County Cup Update

We've got more info through....

County Cup QF Draw - Sunday March 16th

Cleve Vs Hucclecote
Widden OB Vs Longlevens
Old Patesians Vs Cirencester
Cheltenham Vs Dursley

Semi Final Draw - Sunday March 30th

Widden OB or Longlevens Vs Old Patesians or Cirencester
Cheltenham or Dursley Vs Cleve or Hucclecote

County Plate QF Draw - Sunday March 16th

Lydney Vs Cinderford
Clifton Vs Brockworth
Old Richians Vs Thornbury
St Mary's Vs Stroud

Semi Final Draw - Sunday March 30th

Clifton or Brockworth Vs Old Richians or Thornbury
St Mary's or Stroud Vs Lydney or Cinderford

County Cup Lydney - Longlevens (2nd March)

Lydney 5 - 31 Longlevens

Wasn't there today - too close to needing to show a passport for me - but Mark informs me that we won 31-5, having made hard work of it, and drawing 0-0 at half time, so well done to the lads.

That's it for the County Cup pool this year - we have a QF against, er, someone on 16/03.