The Boot has sailed....

It was a day of agonising disappointment for fans of English rugby. And no, we're not talking about the Six Nations. Of much greater importance, we're sorry to report that the coveted Old Boot trophy is now living down the road in Huntingdon, meaning we'll have to go out and kill them next year in order to get it back...

The minor tournament of the weekend, then, came down to a last minute French try, which this time didn't count. Some would argue, though, that it was the last minute French try that did count way back at the start of February that sealed it. There were a lot more tries scored in the weeekend's much more prestigious 2014 Old Boot tournament, but sadly, only one of them was scored by St Ives.

All of which makes this week's match report a bit of a misnomer, partly because there isn't a huge amount to report other than the fact the Vets enjoyed a cracking turnout - 23 in total, and that was with a good number of them (the scoreline would suggest possibly the better ones...) watching that other match in Rome - and partly because I spent a good deal of the time being trampled into the ground and therefore lost track of the scores. This is not a sign of weakness, though, as after consultation with the skipper it turned out he didn't have a clue either...

I think St Neots beat us 20-something-5, but as for Huntingdon I really don't know. Let's just say they beat us, and did it quite comprehensively...but they won't do next year, because we'll all be much more skillful and fitter by then.

A few special mentions - some excellent work on the pitch from Jason Pryce at Number 8, and also from Jason Gosling and club president Andy Frear, both of whom were still fighting fit at the very end.

10 out of 10, too, for Sunbed, who managed to play in as many different positions as possible in two 40 minute games (but never in his usual role as loosehead prop), as well as for ripping my spare shorts after Beni Giglio forgot his, failed to fit into mine and had to borrow Sunbed's, leaving him feeling a little constricted and small enough to even have a crack at full-back.

All credit, too, to Steve Tomlin for yet again injuring himself fairly early on and continuing for at least another hour pretending there was nothing wrong with him, until it finally got too much, forcing me to come back on just as I'd got my breath back. And it would be wrong, also, to not acknowledge Doug 'no, really, I'm never playing again' Cowx for yet again failing to resist the urge to pull on a jersey and come on for the last 10 minutes.

It's worth mentioning, too, that the spirit shown by every St Ives team clearly runs through the Vets as well, for despite taking an absolute hammering, not once was there a hint that we'd given up.

In all, a cracking day despite the results, and fantastic to see not only a great turnout among the Vets, but also some great support from friends and families. And our strategy will pay dividends - we've now lulled them both into a false sense of security for next year, when we're going to let them have it.

There should be another Vets fixture before the season's out, too, as we've yet to host Oundle at home, so the boys have only got a month to recover...

Not entirely sure if this will work (they should be loaded up onto the club site pretty soon anyway), but there are some photos of the game on the St Ives RFC Facebook page and also, hopefully, at the following link, if you want to tag yourself...

https://www.facebook.com/craig.cheetham.9#!/craig.cheetham.9/media_set?set=a.10152355170146264.696726263&type=3