The Black Archer pens yet again...

Apologies in advance.

The origin of Halloween can be traced to an ancient pagan festival celebrated by the Celts over 2 thousand years ago. The Celts believed that the dead could walk amongst the living at this time. If you ever needed proof of this, you only had to watch Kennard, Plug and Glen not only walk amongst the living, but occasionally break into juvenile and spirited runs that defy the march of time and yesterday, inspired a rampant 3rds in what can genuinely be described as a fabulous team performance.
A light breeze and weak sunshine. Going reasonably firm. Five Ways Old Eds were shy in manpower. This being a league game their being a man down wasn’t our problem, more a weakness to be exploited. Less than 5 minutes in, we were 5 up courtesy of a Naughtie try. FW took exception to this and subsequent close contact between us and them was occasionally fractious, bordering on cynical. Brutal mauls were the norm and no quarter was asked for or given, yet in the maelstrom, clear minds functioned. Old heads and rheumy eyes scanned the options and when the time was right, pounced like old tom cats. Three sets of liver spotted hands were all it took. Kennard secured it, Plug opened up a gap and Gordon flew through for a vintage run. Sylph like, a sashay here, a shimmy there, a Caribbean rhythm to the beat of a distant drum. Majestic. Try.
The next try was a Matt Jones effort. Beautifully worked from a steady scrum and taken with relish. Toddy worked their defence hard with timely and accurate offensive kicking from hand. Dale happy to chase anything, anywhere, anytime. On that note, there seemed to be an extra yard or two in everybody today. Perhaps now the season is truly under way, fitness is returning and muscles loosening up. Whatever the reason, it’s noticeable and gave us a massive edge today.
FW got a breakaway try. Nuff said. There’s only one way to respond to that kind of cheek and Anthony H. provided the slap in the face. An outrageous dummy saw four of their defence looking at the spectators instead of the ball and he was in for a hugely appreciated effort. Cue applause. Great to watch.
The lineouts belonged to us. Two reasons. Juddy is the master of intimidation. Opposition hookers find it hard to think straight under properly applied pressure. Ollie at two weighs nothing. Kennard and Rasputin Rob chuck and catch him. The extra height achieved has to be seen to be believed.
There was a great kick, retrieve and offload from Anthony to earn John Williams a lovely try.
Ross and Joe (ex U13’s and back from the dead) thundered up and down the wings. Ross handing off, Joe plucking bad ball from all over the place. Other tries ensued but the real beauty came from a stolen line out, to Phil and thence every pair of hands across the entire width of the pitch to let Ross muscle over the line. Great handling at pace and under pressure. At times, this is simply the best spectator sport.
There were other tries, all worthy of note but space and time preclude their entry here. Apologies. If you could contrive to score less next time around it would help in attempting to report on the game. The final score was something outrageous and a credit to you. A truly grand spectacle of running rugby.
Steve Gould, Rob and Plug sportingly donned opposition shirts and looked like scoring. We had the luxury of numbers and were able to substitute at will. An unusually shaped referee is not normally an indication of unusual decision making but for once it has to be said. The ref was the only person not mystified today. Emma doesn’t know this team nearly intimately enough. Ginger Forward is a classic example of one of the names I was supplied with. If I’ve missed anyone out, for once, I’m genuinely apologetic. Each and every one of you did Spartans proud. Great hour in the bar, very tasty Spaghetti Bolognese. Another great Spartans day out. Thanks All.