The Lions Vets turned out for the first game of their existence and gave the far younger Westwood side a fantastic run for their money.
Dominating the set piece, anchored by Chris Platt and Duncan Davies, the Lions ran in three sparkling tries, the third of which was right on the whistle following a move which went through at least six pairs of hands and some other arthritic joints to put Big Fozzie over in the corner. His own conversion kick from the touchline was simply magnificent.
The 17 points scored by the Vets were down to Andy Coles, Fozzie and someone else, with Dave Rickards and Phil Hazlegrave to the fore in the loose. Ady Woolley, as Club Physio, injured himself in a way even he could not fix and Mal Larrington and Ali McDonald played well on their debuts. Roo and Andy Coles were probably the starts of the show, but Man of the Match was presented by sponsor Sean Boyle to captain Rich Parsons for the audacity of his cheating.
Special mention must be made of referee Mark Wilkinson who handled a potentially tricky game very well indeed, and for Westwood Jack Dury was rubbish.
Jim Foster made a guest appearance for the Vets and put some big hits in along with Jason Harvey who patrolled the field with an imperious arrogance which was great to see; all in all it was a good start for the old boys.
Westwood scored 85 points.

Rich Parsons