Saturday: I watched about 20 minutes of Sedgley 3s v Littleborough 2s, and entertaining it was. There were some big lads out there! Lovely conditions, warm and no wind, and the game was very competitive, despite Sedgley scoring from the kick-off, and then running in two more, to lead 17-0.
Littleborough applied constant pressure and scored just before I left; 17-7 after about 25 minutes. I felt that it would be close, and so it proved, Littleborough winning 27-24.
The reason for my early departure was to watch the game at Bishop’s Stortford on YouTube. Picture quality was very good – perhaps not enough close-ups – and there was no commentary, except the referee’s audio was linked in. Cue much heavy breathing! An insight into the way a good referee manages a game, and communicates with the players.
I will venture an opinion, that this was the best Sedge have played all season, to win 22-19 against very good opponents. Our first away win, and most timely; 22-19. We were sharp and inventive on attack, organised and aggressive when defending.
No game for Sedgley 2s, who play Fylde at Park Lane, Saturday Feb 1st. A tough game, as Fylde are second, Sedgley eighth in the league.
If Saturday had been pleasant, Sunday was f-f-freezing. I watched a few minutes of the U13’s match against Preston Grasshoppers. Sedge were a bit overwhelmed, but still played some good and skilful rugby. Big lads dominate at this age, and they had more of them than we did, which is not to detract from Hoppers’ skills. They were good.
Again, I left early, this time because of the cold. I was struggling with camera settings, and too numb with cold to correct on the spot. I‘ve still produced some half-decent images, following quite a bit of photo shopping. I also snapped the U15s, who were training on the next pitch.
My plan was to produce a photo-album covering all these games, and the final one was the Junior Colts v New Brighton, which I tackled with camera now set up correctly. It shows!
The visitors were a couple of players short, but Sedge were able to lend, so the game continued properly. New Brighton are to be commended for travelling when short, and they played some decent rugby, too.
Sedge had more firepower though, and won 57-10. The Senior Colts were at Old Anselmians, where they lost 14-7. They play Fylde at Park Lane, Sunday Feb 2nd.
Photos of all the games here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/forwarddefensive/albums/72177720323420883
