Hi Guys,

Rugby date 21/11/09 away against Marple 3's cup game score 38-5

Well guys let me start by saying how proud of all the lads who made the trip to Marple this weekend with myself missing I thought we may struggle to put 15 on the park. But on Thursday things looked promising, however a very poor turnout at training did give me cause for concern. I'll come back to that later, but the 2's looked in good form and there was chance of a couple of players coming our way. With P.G. Manning the phones I felt that things were looking good. And so gave the heavy mantle of captaincy over to P.G. for the weekend and sure enough Paul did a sterling job, with the help of Stuart. Whom I believe fell over the try line with the ball in hand and was awarded a try. Well done Stu, goes to show right place right time right decision tap penalty and look what can happen Mr Martin Johnson if only England had shown as much imitative. In talking to my 2 lieutenants I believe that 1 to 15 performed superb, again shame the same cannot be said for England. I must thank Mike Holden who not only provided us with young Joe, making sure that he was on time, but brought his own boots and due to some last minuet let downs from some of the second team players. Played at 9 for the full 80 minutes and did a sterling job, Mike you are penciled in for the remainder of the season. I would like to also thank James Fisher and Nick Archer, Nick back from injury who has been playing for the 2's this season and James who has also been doing a job for the 2's, for their efforts and hope that you play many more games for us. And as I said a big thanks to all of my regulars who gave more than I could hope for by all accounts the score somewhat flattered the Marple side.
Anyway here is P.G's thoughts on the game as my replacement I felt only right he should put a few words together.

This Saturday so a rest from the stresses of league positions replaced by a cup tie away at Marple 3Rd's. With no first team game we were hoping to field a strong side, however this idea soon vanished as the reality of 3rd team life struck home. We started Saturday morning with a flat 15 which at 11am reduced to 14 with a last minute cry-off. Many thanks to Mike Holden who not only stepped up to the mark but put in a full game at 9 and did a decent job to boot. We arrived at Marple an hour before kick-off but unfortunately our kit along with some of the team had travelled in Rousey's car which must have had Mark Thatcher as co-driver (very old joke) so we took to the field at the last minute and slightly UN-organized. Upfront the Blackburn pack started strongly and it soon became apparent that Marple had little appetite for rucking. However on a wet and windy day mistakes were inevitable and every restart saw us struggle. The scrum was not working at its usual high level and a re-shuffle was necessary to improve things, and the line-out was a disaster from start to finish. Missed calls, miss-timed lifts, poor jumps and wayward throwing meant we never won a single ball all day. This would highlight the need for all players to make an effort to get down to training, Thursday night is the time to iron out such problems not Saturday on the pitch. Marples strength lay in their back line, with 2 ex England rugby league players in the three quarters they made strong runs all day however some committed play from the Blackburn backs saw some good tackles and all the team worked hard all day to keep the score line down and try to seek out some points of our own. This endeavor was finally rewarded with a late try from one of the Blackburn pack after taking a quick tap from 5 yards out and power sliding through the mud to hit the line. The final score of 38 - 5 did not really truly reflect on the efforts made by all.

Moving on some big plus points to be taken from the day. As already mentioned good to see Mike Holden play well at 9, great to see Nick Archer in a 3rd team shirt again, MOM performances from both Jamie Elston and Joe Holden bode well for future, James Fisher also played well with some strong running. Also many thanks to the boys who played through the pain barrier to keep 15 on the pitch. If subs had been available we would have made at least 3 changes due to injury but those individuals played on rather than leave their team mates short, true third team spirit.

Regards

Paul Greenwood

Now back down to business, with this weekends fixture in mind, away at Fylde 5Th I would like your availability as soon as possible either to myself or P.G. Also a couple of things Paul picked up during the Marple game, that could be addressed at training if the numbers were present. I know that some people like myself work away or late on Thursdays. However when I get the chance I make an effort to get down even if I go direct with no togs, but still manage to show my face. The lack of numbers last week was pitiful, with 4 lads training the session was a waste no chance to work on anything constructive. Lads we must do better there is still plenty of work to be done on the training pitch. Fylde are hard adversary, and currently 8Th in the league won 3 drawn 2 and lost 5. This game if we were to win would be a massive boost to our season that seems to have stuttered of late with the last 2 leagues been called off for their own reasons. We must start to get our game back on track. Fylde will be buoyed after a good win against Sedgley Park this week in the cup so we have plenty to do, and I know you won't let me down.

Regards Carlos (captain)