Good Vibrations Against The Beach Boys

This weekend saw a juicy encounter set up with the prospect of three teams visiting the vale! Unfortunately as the week wore on things began to change. Yatton bailed out first with a disappointing fixture mix up and denied us the chance of revenge for defeat earlier in the season. Whitehall were next having secured an Easter holidays tour and not wanting to play the day before leaving. This left Burnham, and considering the weather forecast, a simple head to head was a good outcome. Games against the “Beach Boys” have been varied and so after the jubilation of last weeks tournament victory it would interesting as to which Clevedon side would turn up?

The doubters should have been ashamed as, even with a slightly different side, the boys continued where they left off last week with some fantastic play. Defence was monumental, especially in the absence of “big hitter” Woody, I wondered who would step up to the plate and fill those rather large boots. It came from an unexpected source…..Banksy. He was everywhere and tackled everything, maybe a little high at times but with a bit of work and technical moulding could soon be tackling “Lawes” stylee’, well done mate keep it up (or down, should I say). Mac opened the scoring with a trademark direct attack “stop me if you can” try. Josh came next with a very nicely finished effort after some good movement through the hands. Mr Wills was next who seemed to have had a new turbo fitted. He’s always fast, but this week he seemed to scorch across the sticky surface, expertly finding gaps by switching play intelligently. Burnham were a little shell-shocked but to their credit started to get their game together and score a well worked and deserved try towards the end of the first half.

The second half saw a reshuffle but the Clevedon bandwagon continued to impress in every department. Shortly after the restart The Tornado flicked on the afterburners and found a gap he had no right to get through, however sheer determination and devastating pace saw him open the scoring. The next try came from Chas who was having a great game and finished in some style from the three quarters. However Burnham never gave up and were now very much equal to things, producing some quality rugby of their own, eventually finding their way across the line for a good consolation touchdown. And so just as it looked like things were done for the day Chas doubled his count with another well taken effort after some excellent inter-passing play amongst the Clevedon boys.

All in all, a fantastic game of rugby. Everyone enjoyed it and everyone contributed to a quality display in what could have easily been a scrappy encounter in fairly difficult conditions. It was great to see Sam and Tom Lee back, both fitting straight back into things and both performing well. The Tiny Tornado was pretty awesome all day and looking like he’s back to his best, however it was Chas who took MOTM for his all round contribution, a grafter in the pack and a finisher in the backs – great tekkers. Josh took most improved for his relentless tackling and great work ethic – long may it continue. Mac also took most improved for a considerable improvement in his team and referee attitude. Of the whole day it’s perhaps this last point that was the most gratifying as I sank into the final bottles of my winning crate of beer, kindly donated by Wickwar Brewery for my recent “Clevedon Coaches 6 Nations Fantasy League” victory! We have spent the last few months banging on about the importance of teamwork, not questioning referees, just enjoying yourselves, and making sure everyone is respected equally. There was zero backchat to the referee on Sunday (what a fantastic difference it made), it’s a good start, let’s get work on the rest of it, Well done everyone, enjoy the holidays.