Away against Mellish 12th January 2013

Bridgford may well have been outweighed but they were not outplayed. On a cold January afternoon the Bridgford Development squad travelled the 6 miles to play Mellish 2's in a friendly. Mellish twos are in the league above and were always going to be a stern test for the youthful Bridgford Development squad.

There were welcome returns by Callum Bilton, Joel Seymour, Andy Hadley and Lee Wade following his round the world trip. Tom Watson also had his second game back but unfortunately had to retire with a sprained shoulder 10 minutes into the second half.

The performance of the whole team showed again the resolute defensive structure that has been working this season, mixed in with shipping the ball wide to enable tries to be scored on the wings. Jack Cooke had a great game at 9 and in one of his trademark breaks he stepped inside their flanker and sprinted away with only the full back to beat. As usual Alan "the snake" Cullen was in supoort and slid over the line under the posts for a try that covered over 60 meters of the pitch.

The back row were outstanding with Christie Sullivan leading the charge at 8 with Peter Ward(7) and Jack Kirkby (6)in support. The front five continually broke the gain line but sometimes were turned over in contact. Something to work on I believe.

And finally the Captain Raf (the Italian stallion)- say no more but his leadership was immense (unlike him) by motivating all the players as well as keeping things tough but fair in a very physical contect with our local rivals.

Remember Club annual subs are now overdue so please get this sorted over this week and next week. If in doubt about the cost talk to Raf in the first instance.

Well done everyone.

Finally - come training and things will get even better. Tuesdays at the club at 7.15 ( not tonight Jnauary 15th due to the weather) and Thursdays at Gresham at 7.45.

Graeme Gunn
Senior Rugby Club Playing Committee Chairman