Sat 30 Oct 2021
Sporting contests throw up all manner of opponents and results and sometimes it boils down to the most obvious; bigger, faster, stronger and better and yesterday it was purely that - Goliath v David.
Old Reds were by far the best all round team that we have faced; video analysis indicated that they we were in for a toughie with their impressive line speed in defence, strong ball carriers who were played into the right areas by a couple of really sharp half back operators and a backline that wasn't just pacy, but could very easily have played in the back five of any SW Premier pack!
Having said that, it also boils down to the David being right on it from the first to the last whistle and this is where we didn't manage that element. An unusually poorly executed kick-receipt resulted in the CABs having to defend a series of penalties in our 22, which resulted an inevitable early score being conceded. Despite some decent set piece ball, the Old Reds defence was turning out to be as all-suffocating as analysis indicated and we struggled to get any territory or sustained play in the Old Reds 22. Half-time, with a 17-0 deficit it was not all doom and gloom and the CABs felt in a pretty good place, considering the slope of the pitch (akin to Okehampton's Showground) and not playing particularly well. It was very much retrievable provided that errors & penalties were kept to a minimum and we played a touch more direct so as to open up some space and capitalise on any half-breaks/gaps that appeared. Within the first 10 minutes that hope had been dashed a couple of turnovers resulted in Old Reds extending their lead and the rest of the game was pretty much a damage limitation and make the scoreboard respectable. The last play of the game summed up the match as whole - super scramble defence by the CABs enabled Lloyd Duke to intercept and gallop off down the slope, unfortunately the gallop of the Old Reds 11 was a bit quicker than Lloyd's and he was caught between the Old Reds 10 & 22, the offload didn't quite make it to the supporting Daniel Goldsmith and the Old Reds 15 scooped the ball up and set off for the CABs line. A brilliant chase by No.8 Brandon Rowley just stopped him short and the ball fell loose to the Old Reds 14 who just evaded Reuben Edwards desperate challenge.
Next week sees the first league visit of Royal Wotton Bassett and we hope the Polson crowd are provided with another super home performance, like last week's v Old Centralians.
