Esher 3 Cornish Pirates 19

Saturday November 8th 2008

By YOG (Mark Curtis)

It was obvious even before the players took to the pitch that the day's game wasn't going to be flash dynamic rugby with a runaway scoreline. It had been raining for some time, and as the match started the rain worsened and the wind increased as the match went on. The day was going to be about not making too many mistakes, keeping a very slippery ball close, and grinding out a win. And for the Pirates that's exactly how the game went.

For the members of the Press Gang the day had already started in dramatic fashion when one of the chief rebel rousers, Janner, was taken ill on the coach just prior to our arrival at Esher. Whilst some might have questioned whether the big man had taken a turn for the worse when he realised what a round in the bar was going to cost him at Esher's commuter-belt prices, or whether he had received advanced notice concerning Esher's attempt at "Cornish Pasties", the explanation given by the man himself was "bubonic plague", later to be confirmed by a more informed source as kidney stones.
After some tender caring by Neil "Florence Nightingale" Swampy, ably assisted by Nurse Lou, Janner was taken to, and subsequently released from the Kingston Hospital, where he denies he was "encouraged" to leave after dancing with the nurses.

Back to the match. Right from the start it was obvious that despite the weather both teams were "up for it". The tackling from both teams was hard and fair, the passing sure and accurate in the main, and neither team looked to take a backward step. After Bedford last week a casual observer could be forgiven for thinking a 3-19 win over Esher was a bad result for the Pirates, but to be honest I would say that Esher put up a better fight than Bedford. At the end of the match I was left wondering how Esher were not further up the league this season, although this was partially explained after the match by a number of Esher fans who claimed it was the best performance from their team so far this season.

Right from the start the Pirates looked the dominant team, but were held in check a lot of the time by an Esher team that were always quick to organise their defensive line and tackled with passion. The driving rain and a deceptively strong wind meant that the ball needed to be played close by both teams, and considering the ball must have been like a bar of soap, the ball retention from both teams was impressive, especially for the Pirates, considering ball retention was their Achilles heal for the first few games of the season.

Despite a speculative (and totally unnecessary) drop goal attempt in the first half by Rhys Jones, and a pointless five minute bout of rugby tennis in the second half by both teams, the kicking from Rhys Jones was generally good, not spectacular, but a good workman like performance, which is an improvement that will hopefully be built upon.

Continued on Press Gang Website >>>

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes

BMW Sauber F1 Poll