A roller coaster and not just the pitch!

It was a bright, sunny and windy afternoon. The playing surface was rock hard and the pitch sloped dramatically from the south to the north. Not the best conditions to put on a rugby show.
However this did not deter either South Wilts or ourselves as we both played end to end rugby in a high scoring encounter. Playing up the slope and in to the wind we started in confident manner with Dean opening our account. This was quickly followed by Mark adding a try converted by Dean.
Unfortunately we lost Ben to injury and Harry was again forced to undertake his far from familiar centre role. The two Jordan's on the wings were showing no sign of nerves and with Graham combative as ever the three's were doing a good job of moving the quality ball supplied by our energetic forwards.
However after this sound start the tables suddenly turned and South Wilts ran in two tries, one converted. Our eight upped their game with George, Tim & Chris quick over the ball on the floor and Rob stemmed the tide with a try again converted by Dean, but South Wilts came straight back with fourteen unanswered points. The first half finished with the score 19 - 26 to the home side, perhaps a little harsh on us.
The half time team talk led by skipper for the day JV saw the team determined to turn the tide in our favour and leading from the front JV plunged over for a converted try immediately on the restart.
Harry followed this up with a converted try of his own to take us in to a 33 - 26 lead and looking comfortable. Of course South Wilts had other ideas and a converted try saw the scores level with around 10 minutes to go. Our pack was going well in the scrums with Joe, Tooky & Johnny having the ascendancy. This up front dominance, bolstered by Simmsy, saw Tom snipe over from scrum half for a converted try and a seven point lead.
Back came the home side and a barn storming run from their centre from inside his own half saw them clock up another seven points. He almost didn't make it as, debutant Steve Jones', last ditch tackle was just not quite enough to catch the South Wilts man. So honours even and a creditable third place secured safely for us in the league after a few tough seasons.