Bucks Return to Winners Enclosure
For anyone who has a long link with rugby and Grosvenor in particular you can mark down the date of Saturday 29 September 2012 as the day that Grosvenor went back to playing the type of rugby usually associated with Rab Weir, Gordy Duff and Stan Cromie.
Thanks in no small measure to the Orange Order for causing traffic chaos right across East Belfast many of the 4s players got stuck, lost, rerouted or simply had to circumnavigate the globe to make their way to Belmont in time for the meet. Your correspondent found his way across the Newtownards Road blocked and had to go through Craigavad, Craigavon, Craigantlet and along the Craigdarragh Road to make it to Belmont for a time remotely approximating to 12.30.
Finally 2 car loads totalling 6 bodies headed for the M5 and the road to Larne hoping that the remaining cohort would join us at some point. Meanwhile Mikey Morris was stuck in Short Strand enjoying the Covenant festivities. En route word came through that our skipper was currently on a bus on his way into town to collect his car and the kit. So 1.45 arrived and we had 5 players, 2pm came and went and we had reached double figures, which meant we could make a game of it. If only we had a kit, water bottles or even a rugby ball.
Thankfully the referee agreed to a delayed kick off, but I had to assure him that he would be in Ballymoney for his nephews birthday party by 5.30pm.
Finally at 2.20 Smut arrived with the kits, so out the 12, no wait 13, hang on 14 men of Grosvenor went. No warm up required as this was old school rugby. Game on!
Larne took an early lead with a try to lead 5-0 against the 14 men but Grosvenor quickly rallied and James Taylor kicked 2 penalties to give the Bucks the lead. Then the cavalry arrived in first the form of Mikey Morris and then the bleached blonde Jonny Greer.
James Taylor added a converted try to take Grosvenor to 13-5 but Larne kept chipping away before Dee McLaughlin added a 2nd try. Half time score 18-13.
The 2nd half saw both teams add 2 penalties to bring the final score to 24-19 and a victory for old school,no warm up, turn up and play, smoke a feg at half time, drink a beer in the clubhouse rugby.
A few guys need a mention. Firstly Chris Gibson who had a number of barnstorming runs and is quickly growing into a fine rugby player. Isaac Thompson playing in the backs for the first time looked ‘To the Manor Born’. Adam Bartholomew looks a quality operator at 9. But man of the match goes to James Taylor who scored 19 of our 24 points.
Larne as always were gracious hosts who supplied us with an XL sized jug of beer.
2s secure win at Hinch after fantastic comeback
Saturday 29th was not only a day for rugby but was a remembrance of a great player and his family. There was a touching minute’s silence held before the game to remember the Spence family after the tragic accident.
Afterwards both teams were focused and itching to get started. However a ‘big’ hinch side came out all guns/guts blazing and applied heavy pressure, keeping grosvenor on the back foot. After a number of frustrating moments on the sidelines the sequence of scores were not noted, my error – still learning. However, Grosvenor trailed throughout the entire game from a very impressive, old school style, ‘hinch side. At half time I believe the score was 22 -12 to ‘hinch.
A revitalised Grosvenor came out fighting in the 2nd half looking to correct the errors made in the 1st half. A number of strong phases were created through the domination of the line outs and scrums. ‘hinch were awarded a penalty in the last 5 minutes to make the score 33 – 32. With the last play of the game Grosvenor were awarded a penalty and a cool headed Chris Cahoon stepped up to slot the penalty over to snap the victory from hinch 35 – 32. The players performed as follow;
1. Jack – captain fantastic, led by the front and gathered the lads in the 2nd half to drive them to victory. To note Jack was as usual a pain in l’derriere for hinch all day
2. Waf ‘junior’ – very impressive, reminding me of Phil ‘the power’ Taylor with his precession and dart like lineouts. However, supported a Keith Woods look, unsuccessfully.
3. Nick – absolutely dominated his opposite number in the scrum, who had easy half his body weight in advantage. Was a key man in defence all day.
4. Monty – the horse of the tea, is a very scary man when things arn’t going well and shows it well through strong ball carrying and big defence.
5. John – a key man at the breakdown, was very consistant in providing support and getting around the park, rewarded well with a try.
6. Paddy – the human engine, never stopped running all day and was dominant in attack and defence and a key jumper in the lineout.
7. Matty – young turtlehead was once again the ‘tax man’ of the day stealing countless number of rucks, well played kid.
8. Debo – the most dominant albino player in Ulster. Secured ball well all day and ran hard lines acting as a main threat.
9. Steeler – the utility man, played at 9 but worked as a back rower. Was great support at the breakdown and also provided a threat when switched to the wing, new position perhaps…..TBC.
10. Simon – settled in to 10 well, was a frustrating 1st half with limited possession but spread the ball and executed well planned moves in the 2nd. Got on the score sheet with a well deserved try.
11 Brendy – took his hand at wing and by no means disappointed. Almost scored a beautiful chip and chase but was unlucky with the bounce. Was moved to 9 in the 2nd half and settled in at home by providing quick ball and organised defence impressively.
12. Dee Mont – good to see him back playing again and picked up were he left off. Was very impressive in defence and when given the chance ran strong lines in attack. well played.
13. Phil – the veteran of the bunch but showed his experience throughout. Made impressive hits on his opposite number and showed great hands when in attack.
14. Rob – a very consistent performance on the day. Made numerous tackles down his flank and was itching all day to get his opportunity in attack. Eventually got his hands on the ball after a well executed movement along the backs to burn his opposite number and run in an impressive try, well played.
15. Chris – an outstanding performance to get the nod for man of the match. His defence work was 2nd to none and was majorly impressive in attack. Ended the day with 2 tries, 2 conv and 2 pens. Held his nerve to win the match with the final kick of the game.
The performance shown in the 2nd half sums what it is to play for Grosvenor, Never Give Up. All credit to the players for their maturity in the manner of their comeback. An awesome win to say confidently PTBAS !!
3rd XV Win at a Canter
The big news from Saturday was the return from self imposed exile of Simon ‘Abu Hamza’ Fullerton. Simon having moved south for the winter was making his first foray back across the border and representing the Pythons was a great way to get back into the fray.
The game started in excellent conditions, and the Shorts pitch was in as good an order as your reporter has ever seen. Although some of our younger brethren are clearly used to much better pitches than me as they still felt the need to complain about the hills.
The first half of the match was played almost exclusively at the Ballymoney end of the ground with continual pressure being brought to bear from both the Grosvenor backs and forwards with Stevie Whitten and Craig Steele to the fore. The first score came after a few bullocking charges at the line from Lyle with Brendy touching down around the fringes, converted by Teesy (the first and last conversion of the day). Grosvenor continued to pile the pressure on and finally Michael Bethel trusted his ever decreasing pace and charged down the right wing. The ball was kicked ahead and gathered by Steeler who added the 2nd try. The 3rd try of the afternoon was a real comedy of erros from Ballymoney, with the ball ricocheting off feet, post and possibly heads to allow Dee Montgomery to score next to the posts. Teesy was having what could only be described as an off day with the boot and having missed a relatively straightforward conversion he handed the kicking duties to JT who slotted a penalty to make the half time score 20-0.
The 2nd half began and the pace dropped somewhat from the intensity of the 1st half but at 20-0 thats hardly a surprise. It took Grosvenor around 15 minutes to reassert their authority but in the interim Ballymoney hadnt really threatened the home sides line. When finally the scoreline changed again it was through tries from Simon Fullerton who was well fed in the corner, Rob Butler and Lyle (Or it could have been someone else). Late in the game Stevie Whitten saw yellow for an already apologised for trip on the opposition. Grosvenor spent the final 5 minutes of the game defending but again despite numerical superiority Ballymoney found the tenacious tackling and rucking too much to handle. Final score 35-0.
The significant side of that score line is not the 35 but the nil. An all round great performance from all involved with defence right out of the top drawer. Back row were a constant thorn, Brendy back to his best, Wray lording it in the lineout, Gibbo showing he can step up. But man of the match Dee Montgomery. A great display both in attack and defence, he also ended the game with a huge bandage round his head following a tear to the back of his ear. Quality!
For the last paragraph I hand editorial control over to messers Dobbin and Egner. Simon Fullerton played his first game of the season on Saturday following his extradition from Dublin. He was conspicuous in his scrummaging and open play but you would have sworn he had Abu Hamza’s hooks as he dropped ball after ball. In fact at one point the ball was replaced due to being flat, maybe he was using the Hamza hooks after all. But you have to hand it to Simon as he is a Grosvenor man by hook or by crook. The only thing missing was an extravagant dummy, but had he tried one Im sure Ballymoney would have bought it hook, line and sinker. Hopefully we will see more of Simon in the coming months as I dont think he is quite ready to hand over the baton to the next generation just yet. Sorry!
