2nd XV Men
Matches
Sat 29 Mar 2014
St. Ives RFC
2nd XV Men
0
96
St Neots 2XV
Battle of the Saints

Battle of the Saints

Craig Cheetham1 Apr 2014 - 13:23
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If history is to be believed (and it's on Wikipedia, so it must be true...) then around 1,100 years ago two Cornish saints met their maker in rural Cambirdgeshire...

St Ivo, apparently, was a strapping lad while St Neot, rumour has it, stood a mere four feet tall. Both had townships named after them, and from there an ancient rivarly began.

In modern times, on any given Saturday, two teams of 15 galant men (or in our case last Saturday, 12) face off against each other in the field of battle, to fight for the honour of their town's most virtuous. And it was clear from the outset that, despite St Neot's diminutive stature, his team would not be the underdogs this week.

So let's pretend to be footballers for a moment, and trot out the excuses early on. We had a complete lack of resource. With regular 2nd XV players Beni Giglio, Jim Lewsham, Greg Dale, Steffen Gosling and Ian Liddle on loan to a depleted first team and Jason Gosling sidelined by injury, there were very few options, especially among the backs.

Add in the fact that, aside from the Peter Pan-like Ollie Scott, there were no 2nd XV players below the age of 30, and against a St Neots XV chiselled by youth and gym, the outcome was inevitable. I'm not even sure what the final score was, but my guesstimate keeps it below three figures so as not to attract the attentions of the Guinness Book of Records. If they want to drop a few kegs of black stuff behind the clubhouse bar, I'll happily increase the margin of defeat...

In the end, the afternoon was all about the rugby. A keen and committed group of 12 young(ish) men who wanted to come along and play the wonderful game, and a sporting loan of a few local rivals from St Neots meant the game went ahead in St Neots' favour from the outset. If it makes anyone feel better, the result would be academic regardless.

As always the St Ives 2nds gave their all, and although the scoreline may suggest otherwise, never gave up against huge odds.

The Ives pack were strong again, but a lack of fast and youthful legs quickly showed and almost every pass to the back line went in the opposite direction.

Yet even with a borrowed prop, the Ives pack were strong and gave as good as they got, with Captain Jim Leyden back as hooker and a reorganised back row the game was taken to the opposition constantly, with mazey runs from Ollie Scott and 2nd row forward Russell Warrington. Even with such a big margin of defeat, St Ives spent a good deal of time (and much of the second half) inside their opponents' 22.

As stand-in scrum half, Tim Wall was doing his level best to get the ball out, but unfortunately not as far as wing Nags West who worked his socks off for the second game running - albeit frequently plucking the ball from the field behind the Ives try-line.

Despite Ives' best efforts, interceptions from the much quicker St Neots back line chocked up the points. Although much deserved, the runs didn't give a true indication of the intense battle Ives were winning up front. It's the heady mix of youth and experience that gives St Ives 2nd XV their best days. Without the youth, this wasn't our finest hour, though everyone gave their all and we look forward to the youngsters coming through our ranks to get us the points we should be rewarded with after our hard work, week in week out.

Not that points are everything. St Ives, for example, has a beautiful bridge, while St Neots, by comparison, has the Black Cat Roundabout. Proof, if it were needed, that points don't always mean prizes.

Next weekend, we have a league game against Cambourne Exiles. With the season soon coming to a close, this is one we can win - but we need to dig deep and have as strong a squad as possible if we're to get the result that we and the skipper deserve after our hard work over the past few weeks. If you can make it, please don't miss out.

In closing, we should also acknowledge some of the dangers of competitive rugby and send our thoughts to two lads who picked up nasty injuries this weekend - a Vipers player broke his arm during the 1st XV game, while the first's very own Jack Collins sustained a very nasty broken ankle later in the same match. Jack is one of those guys who defines what grassroots rugby is all about - always gives his best, and looks after those around him regardless of their ability. Here's to a speedy recovery Jack - apparently it was a hell of a run...

Pictures from this game will appear on this site shortly, but for the really keen can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/craig.cheetham.9/media_set?set=a.10152385176961264.1073741830.696726263&type=3&uploaded=15

Match details

Match date

Sat 29 Mar 2014

Kickoff

15:00
Team overview
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