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| Littlehampton |
| Friendly, Away |
| 30th August 2008 |
| Won 41-12 |
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| Starting 15 |
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| 1 |
Tin Tin |
| 2 |
Debs |
| 3 |
Monkey |
| 4 |
Big Ga Al (capt) |
| 5 |
Horse |
| 6 |
Matty Hodson |
| 7 |
Charlie Campbell |
| 8 |
Matty Laker |
| 9 |
Jez |
| 10 |
ChiChi |
| 11 |
Soap |
| 12 |
Wilko |
| 13 |
Chemist |
| 14 |
Aaron |
| 15 |
Yids |
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| Impact Players |
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| 16 |
Caspar |
| 17 |
Aaron |
| 18 |
Porty |
| 19 |
Scrabble |
| 20 |
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| 21 |
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| 22 |
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And so it begins!
Sporting a fabulous new kit sponsored by Wealdon and A cars the ever present
supporters merrily travelled to Littlehampton to watch the first game of the
season, although the rugby was not always as pretty as our kit the day was a
complete success.
The excitement and nerves ahead of the kick off were quite tangible which
inevitably lead to a scrappy first five minutes in which both teams made
unforced errors, but it was our opponents who made fewer mistakes and kept good
discipline which lead to the first try of the game.
First blood to the opposition calmed the nerves a bit and woke us up to the
game at hand, no sooner had the conversion missed the uprights than the Norfolk
had won the restart back and gained territory and a penalty in front of the
posts, Yidly (Paul McMichael) stepped up and slotted the kick as though there
had been no break.
Another few moments later and a superb chase following a Matt Laker (Roland)
kick lead to the first try of the season for none other than last year's Player
of the year Jez Stewart (Hamster bane) with McMichael converting.
Poor discipline in the first half cost us large amounts of possession and
territory and lead to a Littlehampton penalty on 20 minutes, the kick went wide
and the first quarter ended at 10-5.
The Norfolk conceded several more penalties due to a mixture of over eagerness,
poor discipline and a bit of inconsistent refereeing but it was the Norfolk who
struck again through another McMichael penalty before a breakaway try from
Aaron Macloughlin put a comfortable gap between the teams. All seemed to be
going well until some footwork of the wrong kind led to the first sin binning
of the season for Horse (Pete Hoare) just before half time.
The second half was a similar affair with lots of rucking practise and several
breaks very nearly leading to tries, often the last pass went forward or was
dropped by the would be scorer. Charlie Cambell showed the way forward with a
great supporting run before popping the ball to Pete Hoare for a try,
McMichael's grin got ever wider as he slotted another conversion faultlessly.
Matt Wilcock last year's captain earned a yellow card for playing after the
whistle as and further chances went awry, Mike Wilkinson demonstrated his eye
for a gap at every opportunity but not his ear for a pass.
Simon (S.O.A.P) Robotham was next to score with a fantastic solo effort in
which he danced his way through several tacklers and left a trail of frustrated
defenders in his wake earning him Man of the match as he ran in under the
posts.
Littlehampton rallied for a late converted score after a few more penalties
cost good filed position but the Norfolk had the last laugh through chuckles
Richard Makenna (Porty) who crashed over from close range squashing to people
in the process.
It was a great start to the season and most of the mistakes can be attributed
to nerves and excitement. Nobody more excited than Matt Hodson who made a
triumphant return to the team after four years on the sidelines and made his
presence known at every breakdown and contact.
It will be tough to top the successes of last season but this was a very good
way to get moving. One aim of the club this year is to re-launch the second 15
(LEGS) to allow more of our players to get regular rugby and develop new
players.
If you are interested in becoming part of a very social environment and playing
fun competitive rugby please call into the Norfolk Arms pub in Steyning or
visit us at www.norfolkarmsrfc.co.uk |
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