In true Vets style, Jason Harris, Cheltenham’s Gandalf of Referees was on hand to officiate. His choice of law applications was made clear to all players before the match, and it set the tone for the afternoon. “I’ll let a lot of things go today lads to make sure we get a lot of ball in play time” he said to both skippers. And so, it ensued, both teams showed enterprise and an eagerness to play the ball but only Cheltenham showed the combined skills of passing AND catching in the early encounters.

With the sun on their backs, coming down the slope in their away strip of blue and black, the Tigers were a marauding menace. One spectator was overheard saying “that’s not really fair, they’re both big and fast.” It made a significant difference as they rounded under the sticks a few times to take a commanding lead. That was until the Pats forwards had seen enough. They toiled and trundled their way up the Everest Road slope and won a well-deserved penalty. Eschewing the 3 points on offer (which would have been sacrilege on such an occasion) the youngest veteran on parade at 20, Will Evans, took the order from his father (second row Mark) to “stick it in the corner.” Best kick of the day, btw.

From there the might of the Pats forward pack was evident. They hammered away at the Tigers’ line but thanks to valiant efforts from the seasoned campaigners like Messers Bennet, Clifford and Gilder, they did not yield readily. Several passages of play went by. Scrums came and went despite a few pick and go attempts but finally the breakthrough emerged.

One scrum resulted in a penalty, Pats No.8, Gethin Evans had the ball at his feet, and he tapped it quickly. The groan he let out in trying to pick it up alerted his front five that something was about to happen. They stepped aside briefly enough for the tall man to do little more than fall forward from the 5m line and dot down for the try.

Pats were on the board. Their tails were up and with a massive carry from versatile front-rower Johnny Dawes they ran hard at Cheltenham once again. Sadly they lost the ball and ruthless Cheltenham scored once more. They took a 4 try to 1 half time lead.

In the Cheltenham ranks was another father and son combo. Nick and Sam Clifford made their dad/lad debut and what a day it turned out to be – Sam was awarded Player of the Match from the Pats team and it marked his first rugby match since school. What a way to make your return to rugby!

The second half saw a flurry of activity from the Old Old Pats and almost all of the action was down in the Cheltenham half of the field. Picking and going, rolling mauls, driving scrums, quick tap penalties and more were on show, but turnovers resulted in lengthy break-away tries for the opposition.

Despite a brace for the uber-talented hooker-come-back-row Joe Dike, and another for debutant Tom “Tin-Tin” Harris, and a sneaky little number for Patch, it wasn’t to be for the home team. “I was more nervous for this match than anything I can remember” said Tin-Tin “and it was an awesome day out – so glad I’ve decided to come back to playing rugby again – I loved it.”

Olli Williams – Vets Player and U10s Team Manager