The game - which took place at Chess Valley RFC - started with Hertfordshire very much on the ascendancy, starting the game a lot quicker and sharper than the away team. It appeared that most of the Bedfordshire side were still enjoying their early afternoon nap, soon finding themselves down with a well worked try as one of Hertfordshire’s centres burst through the line to score under the posts, 7-0.
This seemed to wake Bedfordshire up from their slumber as Captain Charlie Nissen (Dunstablians) leading from the front bulldozered his way over to take the score level at 7-7, the lead then changed hands at regular intervals with Hertfordshire scoring again to make the score 14-7. It was now that Captain Charlie had enough, as again he scored under the posts 14-12, this seemed to spur on his Bedfordshire teammates who finally woke up and scored 2 quick tries through flying centre Virgil Ferguson (Bedford Swifts) and another shortly after by fleet footed Ace McDade (Leighton Buzzard) at 10.
Hertfordshire did manage to get themselves back into the game by scoring a well worked try again through their hard running centres, however Bedfordshire had now got their tails up as Damon Blakey (Ampthill) scored a well worked try by scything a line through the defence scoring out wide.
At this point, you could have argued that all the players had left their boots at home or maybe just needed another nap approaching 40 minutes of ‘action’ as the half time whistle went for a well-deserved rest?
After an insightful half time talk Bedfordshire came out of the traps a lot quicker than they had in the first half and soon found themselves up by a couple of scores with the sure footed Ferguson going over again and then Captain Charlie going under the posts with one of the best hand offs all have seen for many a year, Gerry Goss converting.
It was at this point that Bedfordshire decided to have another 10 minute snooze (is this a requirement for of 50’s rugby?) and let Hertfordshire score a couple of tries of their own to bring the score line back a lot closer than it should have been. This set off the Bedfordshire alarm clocks and as the team arose from their slumber with what was probably the best try of the game scored by Karl Belmar (Stockwood), all supporters on the sidelines watched in amazement as the ball seemed to go through all the Bedfordshire’s players hands before Belmar crashed over the line for a well-deserved team try. From the restart Bedfordshire scored again with McDade spotting a gap where their centre had rushed up, scoring under the posts and converting.
It was at this point team manager Dan Batchelor had forgotten score (it’s normal at this age we are told) but knew his team were winning well.
Not down beaten in the slightest, Hertfordshire again wanted to run from anywhere on the field as though they ran the ball from their own try line to score out wide, the last score for Bedfordshire however from the teams man of the match Gerry Goss (Dunstablians) who supported his Captain as he burst through a gap in the Hertfordshire line.
Bedfordshire thinking the game was all but won decided to have one last nap before the bus home and leaked 3 quick tries to Hertfordshire that put maybe a slightly better glow on the outcome for home team than there should have been. Final score 44-56 to Bedfordshire.
Bedfordshire SuperVets were very happy to donate £280 for Cure Parkinson’s, the charity associated with Chess Valley (host club) from their match fees.
It needs to be said that there were over 60 players all over the age of 50 taking part in this game proving that playing age grade rugby is appealing to more and more men over the age of 50.
Should you want to get involved in this fantastic initiative that aims to get those retirees (and newcomers to the game) back on the field please contact [email protected].