For the second time in a week we boarded the bus at the Rec to head for the capital all hoping for a different outcome from the previous trip. This time our destination was London South Africa who were below us in the league and struggling without a win all season.

That said were very careful not to be complacent as despite their poor run of results they are still dangerous opposition. This proved to be true when they took an early lead from a well taken penalty. A try from Deano shortly after gave us a slender lead but the game was very even.

A very strong rolling maul from LSA from outside of our twenty two added a further seven points to their tally when they pushed us over our line. A fine try from Norts, dancing his way past the last three defenders, and a long range penalty saw the first half of this feisty encounter end with the scores even at 15 all.

At this point in the game the match was up for grabs by either side but it was Bridge who turned up the heat in the second half..
A quick tap penalty from Boyband saw the ball finish up in Dan’s arms for the first of his afternoons scores. A superb conversion from Mat on the touchline saw us creep ahead on the scoreboard. Following this Norts continued his fine afternoon with the boot when he slotted a drop goal from just outside their twenty two to make it a “full house” of scores for only the second time in his career.

Dan Brown went in for his second and our bonus point try and then a great combination down the left side of the pitch by the Brown brothers ended with Sauce racing over for our fifth try of the afternoon.

Dan Brown notched his hat-trick try, his 12th of the season after a chip ahead by Norts who also landed two more conversions. However the best was saved to last when Dee finished off a sweeping three-quarter movement that left the London South Africa defence trailing in their wake.
Whilst most of the tries of the afternoon came from the three quarters this was only made possible by a huge effort from the forwards who more than matched the heavy LSA pack. A welcome return to Tatt, a full eighty minutes from Furball (Dave T) only added to the strength of the heavy brigade.
With fine performances from the younger contingent of the team especially Pampers (Hugh) and ASBO (Callum) who both came on in the second half and added something to the game. It bodes well for the club that there are skilled younger players now starting to have an impact on the senior side and with home grown players coming through the ranks the future looks good.

Saturday was an afternoon to remember with a fine victory against tough opposition, Dan’s hat trick, Norts full house, a five point away win and probably the loudest, messiest and most fun coach trip home in a long time.

Players :1. Dave Timms, 2. John Dossitt, 3. Chris Leaton, 4. Harry Hitchings, 5. Chris Spain, 6. Dean Lewis, 7. James Greenwood, 8. Alex Tattersall, 9. Adam Glenn, 10. Steve Brown, 11. Dan Brown, 12. Mat Norton, 13. David Stone, 14. Mike Grimes, 15. Josh Goodchild, 16. Philip Collier, 17. Hugh Cadge, 18. Callum Butler.