Good evening all,,a hastily arranged game saw us go up North to our friends at Ashfield ,due to the Easter weekend then 2 more weekends over 1/2 term this was our last chance to get some game time in,otherwise it'll be the end of April before we can arrange something before we go on tour,so thanks for Ashfield for accommodating us.
We had 19 lads available for today's shenanigans so it was good to have the options to keep things fresh,after a good warm up we set up and ,guess what ? Yep a try down after after 10 seconds,!!!!!,the kick was good ,high and not to deep,but there 15 plucked the ball out the sky and flew into the first wall ,side stepping 2 lads then outpacing the other lads to put the ball down under the posts and converting ,7-0 down after a15 seconds!!!,but very annoyingly so as time and time again this season we've gift wrapped teams points,and we chase the game instead of controlling it like we normally end up doing,so away we went only this time we started to control proceedings only for simple errors to put us on the back foot,so it was a so so performance for the next 8 minutes some sublime rugger,with Chrissy B back in the pack having a great game at 5 disrupting their rucks and spoiling the ball ala Itoje ;)
we started to show Ashfield just how good a team we are,and Special K smashed over in the corner after some brilliant work from 'The Unit' Matty D taking monster yardage and a couple of Ashfield lads with him this put Ashfield on the back foot as Bridggy picked and drove in pods ,then it was Keegans turn when their back line was splintered ,K handed off lad after lad and burrowed in at the the corner,great score lads,7-5 .
Away we went again and after a few minutes of 'proper rugby' by both teams ,quick line speed ,good competitive rucks, solid tackles etc it was ashfields turn to open us up with a nice try 14-5 ,no worries there though as it was as said above a good try not our errors,back in play Briddgy were really opening up the Ashfield back line with great strong running from the backs,but Ashfield were very quick,sometimes to quick with their line speed !!!,but good guarding allowed us to move the ball round the pitch and Keegan again took the ball nicely from Ethan ,K was doing what all good 8's do and was in the back line for the attack and the Ashfield 13 never stood a chance with K running full pelt at him ,K just 'moved ' him politely out the way and crashed over the whitewash,14-10 and game on ,Bridggy were at starting to awake from their slumber ,and starting to gel nicely ,more good play in the midfield saw us move nicely up the field and enter Ben the bullet who simply murdered the Ashfield lads weaving at pace that makes people gasp ,the Ashfield coach said "wow he's quick!" Which is the understatement of the year,Ben flew in to edge Bridggy in front 14-15.The boys were pumped now normal parity resumed?,not a bit of it I'm afraid as we moved the ball up the pitch a ruck formed ,Ashfield shoved us off the ball and moved menacingly forward using their powerhouse forwards and went in the corner to edge back in front 19-15 the half time whistle blew and we simply reiterated to the lads that in the brief glimpses of play we were wonderful ,but to much of the half was trying to right our wrongs,2 of their 3 try's were us not being switched on fully allowing them to boss proceedings.Raff asked for the lads to go out and for us to boss them round a bit,and boy oh boy did we.......
We switched the squad around so everyone had a minimum 30 minutes game time and away we went only this time the boys totally ran the show from second 1 ,to the final second
The pack was more disaplined with Morgz the monster playing as usual ,brilliantly and Dan not feeling his back problem to much we took matters by the scruff of the neck and ran in 4 quality try's ,the 1st was a great score from Robbie after great hands through the back line releasing Rob to fly down the line cutting inside their covering 15 to slide under the posts,great try Rob,but made with unselfish team play ,from Eddie at 9 through 10 12 13 then to Robbie ,very nice try lads,19-22 .
Some great forward play from Jake and JT saw us control the ball in a messy ruck where the ball was pinging around,but Jake and JT nudged the ruck forwards and this released the 2nd pods ,Ashfield held us up very well,,but Bridggy were looking mean in the pods and another wave of Black muscle went together and low,the ball was fed back through the legs and bodies ,enter Aberdeen Angus who after 4 months out with a broken ankle ,wanted a piece of the action and he picked and drove over the whitewash for an emotional try ,every lad congratulated him and a Cheshire Cat smile said it all"I'm back !" Said Angus ,a great moment ,Ethan slotted the extras with a great kick ,as he did with all 4 2nd half try's,well done Ethan there as that got us 8 more points!.19-29
The next try was soon forthcoming ,with more brilliant forward work,Archie and Elliot playing very well together on the flanks had the big Ashfield lads running out of steam slightly as we were moving the ball nicely round the pitch ,and When the ball came out ,Saff took the ball and flew into the Red wall in front of him blitzing the 1st line running a great powerful line,Ashfield just held him up ,but enter the now on fire Bridggy attack,Dan picked up the ball and dived in low to score ,well done Saff with the run and Dan for following up well,19-36
The last Bridggy try was my favourite of the bunch,we were held up after another wave of attacks,we had a 5 metre scrum ,the move was called the mean looking backs set up nicely spreading the Ashfield cover thinly across the pitch,ball in another solid scrum won by JT ,Keegan at 8 dummy ran on the blind with their flanker 8 and winger all going over to stop him ,hang on where was the ball ?,flying out the other way that's where!,Eddy spun out a perfect pass to Captain fantastic,Tommy who passed the perfectly weighted ball to Saff from deep on the full,good luck to anyone trying to stop him as he flew at the Ashfield line,they moved up quickly but Saff side stepped at pace and slotted down under the posts for a brilliantly worked,clever intelligent try,well done to all there,19-43 and game over,Bridggy did what we needed to do in the 2nd half scoring 28 unanswered points,the final score went to Ashfield ,who never let their heads drop ,credit to them ,we defended a line out very well winning it the ball went to Eddie who quite rightly so tried to boot it to safety ,Ashfield charged it down very well and it found its way to their winger who went in in the corner,24-43 ,the final whistle blew and a big cheer from the lads as they knew they'd been in a battle,but like numerous times this season,togetherness,fitness ,skill ,passion and team work won us the day .
Recap .....
Final score
Ashfield RFC 24
West Bridgford RFC 43
A great game,majestic in places,not so in other patches,but a very satisfactory performance overall
Awards.....
Man of the match , Dan Langton for a brilliant skilful performance,playing with a back injury but committed to the team 100%

100% committed award,JT ,Joe Taylor,for a solid game at 2 ,winning scrums(3 I think)? Against the head,not loosing a single scrum all day,being where he needed to be around the breakdown ,and doing what a good 2 should do ,well done JT

D#%k of the day,the best award to 'win' ,went to Eddie for the charge down kick that allowed them to score their consolation try at the end.
So enjoy your 2/3 weeks off over Easter and 1/2 terms ,we'll be looking to train on the last Sunday of the 1/2 term,numbers allowing.
Thanks to Ashfield for a good game,and hosting us very well,good luck for the remainder of your season,enjoy your tour too.
And finally as always the Bridggy army who came in their masses to cheer the lads on ,very much appreciated by me and Raff and your little darlings too ;)
Yours ,in rugby
Paul & Raff