On leaving Belgrave to travel to Bedford Athletic RFC with Bean,Tom(too tall)Westley and making his 1st team debut on the bench Brad Jones,with no sat nav,no usual navigators just some writing on a piece of paper,I wondered why we got lost 4 times.Little did we know what lay in store for us.
With both Tom and Brad being smokers and big match nerves on display plus my dodgy driving,many cigarettes were consumed.This turned out to our advantage as on arriving at the ground we opened the windows and crept in under the smoke screen. A good old British navy trick,still works today.
At this point a transformation scene took place very akin to the pantomime Cinderella with unforeseen circumstances having occurred back at Belgrave after we had left Brad was elevated to start and we were down to 1 replacement.
At this point I was approached by another follower of my match reports Mr Jeremy Tyrrell,try and get my name right its Dick not Nick.Jeremy is the report writer for Bedford.Check this weeks report on the game very accurate with all the scorers names,although it must be added Jeremy is an accountant and they are good at accuracy.Unlike my reports .
Match official for the day Mr Peter Leys a carpenter from Daventry,who we last saw at Bugbrooke.Bean having sampled the local real ale "London Pride" and commended it,I had a coffee served by Donna which I also commended.The game then got under way.
Belgrave took the attack to Bedford and pinned them inside their own 22,Brant Wilson was unlucky not to score being tackled a yard short of the line.For 20 minutes Belgrave denied Bedford the ball.But Bedford struck after 20 minutes with Charles Darlow scoring under the posts and Luke Levitt adding another.At the half Bedford led by 21 points to nil.
It was at this time I dispatched the Bedford chairman Mr Richard Parrish to find a famous person at the ground.Note to self never send him for reinforcements,he never came back,but on catching up with him he did try, addressing the large crowd.But nobody came forward.
At the start of the second half things went down hill for Belgrave,injuries to Baljit(Belly)Singh and Josh(the human wrecking ball )Jones saw Belgrave down to 13 players.Sean(quickthinking)Kyle then sent to the sin bin.Belgrave had to fight a rear guard action .Bedford took advantage of this and ran in tries from all angles.For a full update of the scorers see Jeremys Bedford match report.With their usual team spirit Belgrave played it hard to the end giving their all.Final score Bedford 70 a battered and bruised Belgrave nil.
On the plus side Belgrave players did have the best hairstyles,with Jack Kyle, Brad Jones and Jamie(the cobra) Crumbie showing the way.My search for a famous person was not in vain.I came across Mrs Jacky Conyard a coach for the Kettering Colts.Whose mother was born on the same day as Sir Cliff Richard ,14th October 1940.It is rumoured that on hearing of this Adolf Hitler called off the planned invasion of these islands,Operation Sealion and attacked Russia instead.Bit of History for Mooney with his injured finger.
An uneventful journey back having dropped Tom off on the New Parks,we got lost, we were accosted by some of the locals.But when we mentioned we were friends with the Kyle family,for some reason they let us go.No idea why.
Firsts for todays game Brad Jones a first team debut at short notice plus best hairstyle,Tom Westley inducted into the "Sports Report" club ie travelling back in my car 5pm on Saturday,conducting the Central Band of the Royal Air Force playing"out of the blue". Been going since 1947,now that's history..
A Xmas break follows with the next fixture at home to the mighty Syston RFC on Saturday 3rd January 2015.A time for injuries to heal.After Xmas on Saturday 27th December at Belgrave RFC 2pm kick off.Leicestershire leagues v Lincolnshire leagues
News Years Eve the club party tickets £5 or pay on the door,Ivan will be on the door,you have been warned,no pay no entry.Have a good Xmas,will see you in the new year.
Just off now to see my mate Charles Dickens who wants to write a book about a bloke who gets visited by ghosts over Xmas and is transformed on Xmas Eve.Going to tell him stick with your East Enders scripts the monies better.See you in 2015