Snow in November ! Usual chaos ensues and it’s going to freeze tonight so travelling looks like it will be a tad tricky for tomorrow as well. Forecast for the weekend also looks terrible so rugger might be a bit of a struggle as Bertie arrives.

Ok back to last weekend and our ill-fated trip down to Withycombe… yup, you guessed it, we did count our chicken before they hatched as we only went and lost despite being firm favourites. Unfortunately I have to report that we were up against it and for our large fan base who travelled down to watch there was only one topic of conversation after the game and that was the “ref.” People were spitting feathers! I am normally fairly ok with a poor performance from the man in the middle, as it usually means he’s bad for both sides but on this occasion you could be forgiven for thinking he was actually on their side. Unlike many who enjoy rugby, playing or watching I like to think I do know the laws of the game reasonably well and I unfortunately spent most of the game not understanding why penalties were being given against us especially at scrum time, where we were completely dominant. Wrong decisions do happen occasionally but when it was nearly all the time this did seem a tad odd.
Then we need to mention the new electronic score board they have. This thing is one of those super-duper ones which keeps a record of the time played as well as the score. In the first half the ref blew after just 38 minutes played and there was stoppage time that wasn’t added as well. Then just after Withycombe had scored the winning penalty he blew his whistle again, a minute early and this time he also took no account of the injury time of which there was quite a lot. A long with other stoppages in this half there was one in particular which took at least 5 minutes to resolve as one of our players took the full force of a clearance kicked ball which hit him in the face and after recovering, he had to be escorted from the field which took a while. Our players were incensed at the end as the game was clearly finished way early.
Near the end of the game when we were still ahead and it looked like we would still win, I’d decided I needed to say something after the game but when they snatched the win in the final second, I was obviously very cross but thought better of complaining as it would have just looked like sourer grapes. All a bit of a sham really but I must say, Withycombe played very well and their defence was second to none on the day as they held us out on numerous occasion. One of their tries was a bit controversial as well but all in all we should have won fairly comfortably and also managed the game a bit better. Maybe it’s a good lesson to learn and despite provocation you still have to carry on.
Right that was a real moan… heyho…. had to be said.
Our twos had a great game against Exeter Sarries and in a nip n tuck game the final score was a 26-26 draw .

I got home and then watched the England game which I thought was good but again we fell at the final hurdle and it was another frustrating watch! Switched over and watched England’s cricketers and we also lost that one so… all round not a good day. Still, I woke up the next morning still alive so in the grand scheme something positive to mention!

Sunday our juniors were in action and again weather was still holding out so all games went ahead with a mixed bag of results and great to see so many playing the sport. Now that was a positive comment wasn’t it but…. just in case everyone thinks the dog pooh issue has somehow gone away from Allhallows with the ban I have to report one of the parents from one of the opposition sides who visited us has complained to the RFU about what they see as a safe guarding issue at Honiton. Their child fell in a pile of the stuff whilst playing and they were obviously very upset by the incident. Obviously I have apologised profusely and I’m awaiting the complaint in writing so as to send it on to the Council so they can clearly understand the ramifications of their ineffective policing policy of the pitches. We’ve been asking for proper signs for months. And finally on this subject… for those dog walkers who don’t see this as an issue, what do you think of this as an advert for our town?
Blimey I’m on one today!

On to this weekend. It’s a league free one as it happens which gives us a chance to get out a vets side to play and this is our only senior game this weekend. It’s away against Sidmuff and we are playing them for the Dave Turner cup which they hold at the mo. As mentioned the forecast looks pretty dreadful so you’ll need to keep eyes peeled on Social meja if you’re thinking of going to watch as it maybe off!

Same applies to our junior games on Sunday as the forecast is all so shite but in case it’s a goer we have … at home against Barnstaple, the 11’s 12’s 13’s and the 15’s are also home playing Torrington.

Then away we have 7’s 8’s 9’s and 10’s who are visiting Somerton which I thing is a fairly new club. I’m saying that just because I’ve not heard of them as a rugby club.

Sorry for all the moaning this week I will endeavour to be upbeat next week.

#UTT

Lord Jez