In a weird Juxtaposition (one for you there Chris Wilson), the Mods came away from the Slant on Saturday in both buoyant and deflated mood. On a positive note, we got our first win and that will hopefully kick start our season. But we also know that there's a lot of work ahead of us if we're to get anywhere near our best.

Here's my take on the notes made on the game by Sam 'Sammy Sunshine' Glassup.

1st half

The Mods got off to a solid start, taking the first scrum against the head and setting up camp in the Halifax half. After 11 minutes, we were 6 points to the good as 'Fax indiscipline (a couple of high shots and an 'enthusiastic' blitz defence led to a series of kickable penalties.

The points came from the boot of Gary Cox.

The next ten minutes were more even. Halifax making ground and then the Mods making some in return. Sam's notes say that the main talking point for this period was a line-out taken against the throw, which is slightly depressing unless you're Downesy, who will most likely be retelling the story of his steal at parents' evenings for years to come.

The next point of note was a vicious kick to the head of resident boat race - dodger, Charlie Bond Pack Leader. The Mods players demanded that the assailant was shown a straight red, until we realised that the thug in question was our own captain, Sam Love.

With CBPL on the sidelines, Halifax scored a try when their full back did two laps of the pitch before dotting down over the whitewash. Word has it that Steady is still chasing him now.

Half time, score at 6-7. Oh actually, I should mention that Danny Whitelaw kicked a 50/22. Or a 40/20?

2nd half

The second period got underway with the Mods deciding to play a bit differently - no longer were we knocking on at every opportunity and giving our own players a good head-rucking. Now, we were playing with width and intelligence. Or, as it's more commonly referred to, we were giving it to Gary and telling him to do something with it.

And do something he did. A few good phases and a great carry by Downesy led to Gary throwing a dummy and going in under the sticks. He even bloody converted it as well.

Mods 13 - Halifax 7

The next bit of Sam's notes talks about some mauling and 'pressure defence' which i'm absolutely not going to write about. I'll skip to the end where it says that Chris Wilson scored a try from a pick and drive. His first try in 20+ years? Gary missed the conversion which takes the shine off, but i believe Wilson has now overtaken Oddy in the try-scorer charts so swings and roundabouts.

Mods 18 - Halifax 7

Sorry, i'm reading these notes now and the next bit says that 'Sam Humphreys couldn't gather a pass' which is absolute nonsense as it went about 30 years over his head (saying 'his' cos i'm hiding my identity like the Stig). So it's up to you whether you believe any of these notes from now on. It also says that Steady did a goose step which is debatable. Surely it was more likely to be his hip popping out mid jog.

Anyway, where were we...

With 10 minutes to go, Mods had all the territory and most of the possession. The first Halifax pressure on the Mods line was defended by debutant Si Hays with a clearing kick by Danny Whitelaw.

The rest of the match flowed sleepily to a close with no more scores for either side. Sam's notes say that Steady called for a mark, which is impressive. But even more impressively, it notes a phase of play where CBPL and Shoddy were 'hugging the touchline'. I started to wonder whether Sam had started drinking by this point, but the next bit says that CBPL gave a nice offload to Shoddy who knocked it on. And that, I absolutely remember.

The match ends with the ball becoming unplayable at the maul. A tough contest again but both sides will feel there's more to come.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for a preview of Saturday's fixture against Leeds Medics.

Oh, and P.S, there's some pictures from the Halifax game in our gallery.