Despite a strong pull out game from St Francis, we managed to pull together a rag tag bunch to ultimately go on and beat a strong Horsham Baa Baas team.

A big shout out to Josh and Steve for bringing a team together and for not losing their minds in the process; albeit Steve may not have much left to lose these days.

ST FRANTIC

Frantic, chaotic with a little sprinkle of aggression, is how I would sum up the game as whole.

To set the scene, moments before kick off the home supporters gazebo had been blown across the pitch, therefore conditions were not optimal.

So in the wind and rain on a sand laden pitch in the middle of [storm] Bertie, the game was under way.

Early on it was clear that we were up against an experienced 9 and 10, both ordering their forwards and backs around the park. For us, we had a JW13 as JW10, and Dave was Dave (sadly). The first 10 mins of the game was a cagey affair, with frannies rarely leaving their 22 aside from the rare adventures kick up the pitch. Horsham took first blood with hands out the back to their center who ran in.

Frannies did not crumble though and after a while, we started building on our determined defense. Stringing a few phases together high up the pitch we finally found space, and a beautifully flat pass from JW10 to Skinner allowed us to go directly under the posts for 7 points. With his bit done for the afternoon, Skinner quietly subbed himself off for an early shower. The rest of the half is a bit of a blur, but apparently Dave scored a very good try (according to him).

HALF TIME 14-5 (MAYBE)

They say you block out traumatic experiences from your memory as a coping mechanism to forget the pain. I have certainly done that with the second 40 mins as they are a painful blur.

But some key talking points:

JW10 scoring rugby's version of a tap in, and calling for the ball by shouting “yes big man”.

Dave did another try.

I (Sam) got handed off so hard I'm still not sure which dimension I'm in.

Rylan carried on kicking superbly, kicking all of Horshams balls back into the town centre. He didn't know he was shit housing, but he was.

Rylan moved to 10 for one phase before subbing himself off.

Andy did a scream.

The rain and wind didn't stop

St Francis won 28 - 15

Man of the match: Emilie
An energetic performance, popping up all over the pitch. Was happy to carry and tackle even when the conditions got harsh. A great showing for a man who's wedding ring almost prevented his appearance.

Dick of the day: No comment.

Joking aside, a really big thank you to everyone that played yesterday. It was typical grass roots rugby and a great advert for the game.

We also owe the Holbrook players who came down and helped us out as without them there would have been no game.