The Boars continue their good run of form with a solid win over their local rivals. The Boars started slowly following the stag night of Boars Captain Kenny Lewis and paid the penalty early. Burdett threw a pass that resembled a wounded pigeon and while trying to deal with this mess Hesketh passed to a grateful opponent who ran in to score between the posts for a converted try. The boars also had to sort out a misfiring scrum which contained four who were sweating pure alcohol from the night before.

A bit of normal service was resumed as the Boars forwards began to win the ball at the breakdowns and grind forward. From this platform the backs began to string passes together and Hesketh made hard yards up the middle, offloaded to Julian Wates who rode the last two tackles to score between the posts and allow Rhodes to convert. Hellingly were then unlucky to have a man sin-binned for persistent infringement and even they were surprised when they went over for a converted try during this period.

The next score looked critical and the Boars got it as the controlled a maul near the halfway line scrumhalf Rhodes sensed that the Hellingly defence had overcommitted and made a blindside break and as he was tackled found Tony Wates on his shoulder for a try. This seemed to settle the team and a more stable platform was found from which to pressure the Hellingly defence into mistakes. Good work on the left led to a penalty 10 yards out. Rhodes took the quick tap and spun the ball right where it went quickly through hands to allow Hollingdale to beat a stretched defence to score in the corner. So this brought up half time with the score at 17-12 to the Boars.

The second half saw fresh legs added in the form of a number of Colts who added vim and vigour to the advantage of playing downhill and Hellingly were made to defend for most of the half. The Boars pack had by now sorted out their issues (sweated out the alcohol?) and were winning ball cleanly and from this platform the backs swept into action. Julian Wates and Burdett scored good tries before the colts took over with Dorrill and Neil ? both scoring before Julian wates scored his third and final try. This rounded of a fine match for the Boars and kept the pressure on East Grinstead at the top of the league.

The funniest moment of the match was when big Julian Wates was ‘interacting’ with an opponent after a ruck and a voice piped up “Oi! That’s my little brother so leave him alone”. Julian and opponent were left helpless with laughter at such a show brotherly love.

Man of the Match was Duncan Hesketh who often broke the defensive line to allow others to score and put in the big tackles to halt the opposition attacks.

Boars Team – M. MacLeod, T. Wates, A. Sutton, P. Hookway, T. Rose, N. Wood (S. Dorrill – 40), Ian Schleider, J. Parsons (D. Bird – 60), D. Rhodes, B. Burdett (L. Keylock), J. Wates, D. Hesketh, S. Hollingdale (J. Donnebaer – 40), N. Huxter (K. Davies – 60), M. Barber

Match report by Mike MacLeod

12/18/2007 1:57:07 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)