Tour Tour Tour.
Saffron Walden made the long journey over to Belgium leaving the Duke of York in the early hours of Friday and arriving suitable refreshed at our hotel in Gent mid afternoon. Despite having some problems with the seagulls on the way over everyone arrived safely.
A quiet night out in the old city preceded a good nights sleep ready for the big game on Saturday!
The tourists boarded the bus at midday to travel across the Dutch border to Middelburg in Zeeland to play E.Z.R.C. Oemeomenoe (translated “what do we do now?”) which seemed appropriate for most of the players.
In sweltering heat the match could best be described as a game of 3 halves!
The first 20 minute period Walden dominated the scrum and line out which paved the way for the backs to show what they could do and a couple of tries were soon scored. Towards the end of the period the hosts came back as Walden eased off and they scored a try to narrow the gap.
The second period was played in much the same style as the first and Walden scored 2 more tries with Oemeomenoe getting one themselves. The highlight came when a good break by Tom Hughes put Adam Miles in the clear with 25 metres to run, he nearly scored but got tackled just as he headed over the line however it was not by a player but by the posts as he somehow managed to run into one at full pace, much to the enjoyment of all 30 players and the large group of spectators watching from the balcony of the splendid club house. We now know why the post protectors are there as I am sure the posts would have been damaged had they not had a large amount of padding.
The third 20 minute period kicked off and it was soon becoming apparent that the travel and the heat were taking its toll on the tourists. The hosts were bringing on fresh legs and started to make in roads into the Walden defence scoring again to narrow the gap. Walden managed one more score and had opportunities to score again. Oemeomenoe looked as they had scored but a last ditch tackle by captain and fullback Billy Powell saved the day. Unfortunately the home player twisted as he was tackled and he broke his leg and the game had to finish early to wait for the Ambulance to come. We wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.
Walden tries were scored by Rob Nolan, Tom Hughes, Brad Baker and David Patch (x2) all converted by the try scorers. The hosts awarded man of the match to Jon Goodin.
Once the injured player was in safe hands we stayed on at the Club for 3 hours enjoying the Dutch hospitality Beer, Sunshine, Beer, Chicken, more Beer, some Singing, new and old social games before heading back to Gent via KFC for another quiet night on the town.
A great court session on the Sunday morning and then all headed into town to sit by the river and contemplate the events of the previous days and nights before leaving mid afternoon to head back home.