Despite 25 sign-ups an away game in an unfamiliar location and a 12.30 kick off was always going to pose challenges, and having had 10 men with 10 minutes to go, we just about scraped a starting line up in time. A lacklustre first quarter was perhaps an inevitable consequence. This was a creditable enough performance, but not one of our best, featuring far more basic errors than we are used to making, and in truth we really only did ourselves justice for 15 minutes in each half. Having gone behind we rallied to 12 all at half time with tries by Rob Mahon and Alex Rowe and a JP conversion, but then turned in a shocking third quarter to go 22-12 down. A spirited period ensued with a try from Tom Clark and another from Rob Mahon presenting JP with the opportunity to take us ahead with a touchline conversion. It would not be an unfair exaggeration to say there was widespread shock as he struck it home high and handsome with minutes to go. The Civil Service, however, a competent side who posed plenty of challenges throughout rallied to put us under pressure for the final minutes and managed a last gasp try in the corner to seal victory and deny JP his bragging rights. A good game however and opponents well worth getting onto the fixture list on a regular basis, league demands permitting. We were pleased in particular to welcome Lt Col Simon Orr who turned in a lively performance on his debut. Man of the match is not an easy pick on this occasion, but on balance it goes to Oli Low for his part in a dominant scrum and for popping up at outside centre and giving an admirable example of drawing a man to put Rob Mahon in for his first try.