Old Blues vs Brighton

The Old Blues hosted Brighton at Motpsur Park on Saturday as we finally got around to playing Round 7 of the EDF Junior Vase. The importance of the game already had the Blues fired up which was just as well given the pace the game was being played at. As the first half progressed, with the Blues absorbing some savage pressure from a very strong Brighton side, we certainly felt we were still in the game at 6-0 down after half an hour. However Brighton managed to go over in the corner with about 5mins left to half time and landed the killer blow when they crossed the line again, converting the try with the last kick of the half to go in at the break leading 20-0. The second half saw the Blues gamely try to chase the game, throwing the whole bloody house (never mind the kitchen sink) at the visiting side. But the Brighton defence stood firm and although we got to the line a couple of times, the Blues were unable to punch through. As the game progressed and the Blues had to push harder and harder and Brighton showed why they can lay claim to be the most complete side we have seen at Motpsur Park in a while when they still had enough in the tank to capitalise on a couple of defensive lapses and seal the deal with about 5mins left on the clock. The last 5 mins saw the Blues camped out in the Brighton 22 but to no avail and the final whistle went with the score line reading 35-0 to Brighton. We came off the park absolutely knackered and, although we felt a little annoyed not to have managed to cross the Brighton line, there was immense pride in the effort, commitment and sheer bloody mindedness of the Old Blues squad who refused to back off from what was a very hard day’s work. So our cup dream is over for this year, very well done to the Brighton boys who were excellent and we look forward to cheering you on in the final. The HdM was awarded to me as skipper, in recognition of the work rate of the team as a whole. We came up against a team who were simply better than us and the entire squad responded with a monstrous performance. Honourable mentions are deserved by all. Old Blues: S O’Shea (c), J Burger, P Thorp, R Renowden, G Humphries, G Deakins, A Demenis, R Wopshott, M Gray, M Weeks, J Mitra, H Shephard, K Yeboah, S Hogg, A Cunningham, J White, T Powell, C Hunt, D D’Netto. Next week, the Old Blues resume their league campaign against Reigate in the fixture postponed from 10 January. SteveO.