Pythons Overs 22 : 34 Pythons Unders and £493:00 for Charity
“Having missed last year’s game due to COVID restrictions we’re pleased to see this year’s go ahead. We’ve carried out all the necessary checks, expanded the changing facilities and even the weather seems to be helping us out”, said Pythons’ President Paul Day. ”We’ve got almost 50 players keen to take part, the age cut has been dropped slightly to 32 so we have 2 evenly balanced teams. This game will be called the Rose Jeffries Memorial Game as it has been for several years and many thanks to Steve and Bronwen Jeffries for agreeing to us keeping this going. This year’s charity is the RFU Injured Players Association”, he added.
The Overs, captained by Justin Ross, took advantage of early possession with Gareth Drane sending pin point passes to his brother Ivan who was quick to get his back line into the game. Competition at the breakdown was lively with The Unders, captained by George Booth, keen to regain possession. A spilled pass in mid field put Sam Beagrie in the clear for the Unders – touch down in the corner. Tim Evans carried hard for the Overs with Scott Irvine tackling hard to keep field position. Some accurate kicking out of hand from Jed Carr and the Unders had possession back on the Overs 22. A perfectly timed pass from Callum Irvine puts Hugh Tatlow in.
The Overs determination and experience began to show. Evans was proving powerful with support from Matt Ions, Marcus Fotherby and Russell Robertson – it was only a matter of time before Evans powered under the posts and converted his own try. Retaining possession from the re start, The Overs spread the ball again with Drane number 3, Owen, crossing the line to score.
Quickly back in the game, Dan Bird stole a line out for The Overs gaining 20 meters before passing to Robertson who made 40 meters to score in the corner. The Unders were under pressure and behind 10-17 at the interval.
With oranges replaced by Port, The Overs, keen to keep in the festive mood, were soon defending once again. Ollie Myers and Booth were both held up over the line and it was Beagrie who put the Unders back on the score sheet, closely followed by Callum Irvine. Experience started to show, Matt Leach combined well with Owen Drane and carries from Tom Everingham and evergreen Jon Wiggins put The Overs back on the offensive. Quick thinking from Owen Drane following up on his own kick to score under the posts.
Having played a hard game and suffering the effects of their half time Port, it was the Unders who dominated the remainder of the game. With tries from Adam Challis and Will Clough The Unders took the game 22-34.
“It’s always good fun for the players to be involved with this type of game”, commented Coach Dan Bird. ”We’ve seen players get their boots on once again, guest players from local clubs and potentially some new players for The Pythons. It looks like we’ve raised £493.00 for the charity with close to 100 spectators on the touchline so a great success. Our 1st XV play top of the league Barnsley away this Saturday so game heads back on this week”, he added.
