Squad: George Burnie, Matthew Bailey, James Brooke, Dom Horn, Rob Lee, Ash Raymond Barker, Henry Kirkpatrick, Herbie Gale, Sam Hygate, Will Appleton, Tobias Burden, Joe Watkins, Sam Brewer, Pat Dore, Matt Carr. Replacements: Richard Thomas, Alex Potts

The day was upon us, and having received what was a heavy defeat to the E’s earlier in the season, a renewed Hucclecote made the journey down the M5 with fire in their bellies, a lust for revenge and possibly some Gloucester service sausages rolls.

The cote were chomping at the bit and were forced to wait outside the gates of Hallen, before Rob Lee showed up to take them through to the promised land. Which is more than I can say for our two captains Bailey and Burnie who decided to turn up fashionable late with the kit, causing the warm up to take place in E’s shorts dug out from what seem to be the 80’s.

Hucclecote brought a little crowd down with them, which was to my surprise as they had but in a request for the hospitality box in the Perkins stand, with one course meal of hotdog and crips.. however unfortunately this was taken by the old E’s faithful.

The warm up was complete, the scene was set, could Old Elizabethans bounce back from their form of late to take a double scalp from Hucclecote?

The game kicked off and E’s received. The first few minutes were fast and scrappy with E’s winning the contact area but forcing offloads a little too much.

An ever graceful break from captain, leader, legend George Burnie, spark new life into individuals, some nice footwork from Watkins eating up metres, and Brewer began the onslaught of his day by bulldozing his way through would be Hucclecote defenders.

Rob Lee was suddenly down and what we all didn’t want to see happen, with his ankle problems becoming a nightmare, we hope to see him return soon. Rob replaced by Dickie.

Despite E’s playing well, they were slightly narrow in defence and some breaks on the outside, saved by a notable fantastic cover tackle into touch from Sam Hygate, eventually lead to a harsh penalty being conceding by Henry Kirkpatrick, who was working hard around the breakdown. Hucclecote opted to kick and the ball sailed over 0-3.

The lineout was really struggling, and Hucclecote were winning more ball back through steals. The scrum was also under some pressure, Herbie like a great artist homing his skills, seems to be able to pluck the ball from the darkest depths of the scrum. This lead to some particularly good carries, linking with a charging Brewer flying down the alley and knocking Hucclecotians down like skittles.

Despite the dominance and E’s defending well, great shots going in from Horn, HKP, Ash, Brewer and Tobias. Hucclecote were awarded another kickable penalty that darted through the posts. 0-6.

E’s needed to bounce back and off a scrum, a lovely Herbie run, Brewer charge and break, and a few more hard pushed phases saw Bailey crash over from short range. 5-6 not converted from our wide.

Just as E’s had started to convert their pressure another scrum penalty gave Hucclecote another kicking opportunity, and the score finished 5-9 for halftime, in what seemed a very short half and a frustrated E's returned to the huddle to chew the fat.

HALF TIME

The 2nd half kicked off and Old E’s were getting much more into the game now, with tenacious tackling and carrying from Tobias Burden.

An E’s reward came when Hygate sniped from the base, Wapps was set loose with some lovely footwork and Henry Kirkpatrick charged over the line for his first taste of E’s glory, with the hunger for more. 12-9 Hygate conversion.

Pat Dore went on a charge straight from kick off and was in fine carrying form for the afternoon, and seemed to use his trademark bounce to dent a few egos before he was finally sithed down on the opposition 22.

Sam Hygate was delivering Michelin star service from the base, and adding the accoutrements with his box kicking go the delighted taste buds of Hallen’s Crowd, helping the E’s backline to cause trouble.

Henry Kirkpatrick was throwing what was left of his shoulder into Hucclecote, knees, ankles and midrifts. Much to the displeasure of the ball carriers, and was being a menace at the breakdown.

Potts come on to replace Joe Watkins, and as ever helps to sturdy the ship for the remainder of the game. Possibly his most notable incident was to somehow get James Brooke yellow carded for a no arms clear out, maybe the dark arts is strong with this one.

There will be Hucclecote players waking up sweating with night terrors, and the image of Sam Brewer blazoned in their minds as he continued to carry hard metres all game, this was aiding Old E's in gaining that ever elusive front foot ball.

Wapps and Carr's distribution and kicking was causing problems for Hucclecote and with the chopping and changing at first receiver it was nice to see the pair creating space for the outside backs and controlling the game in the later stages.

Hygate had a chance to stretch the lead but narrowly missed, but he would have his chance at redemption come the final few minutes when penalty won by none other than HKP, and Hygate slotted a long range kick with the Stoic calm of a man much passed his years, to put the win without doubt. 18-9.

The game was preceded by court which I will not go into any detail for fear of repercussions from the Judge…. But safe to say JUSTICE WAS SERVED.

FULL TIME

Man of the Match: Two exceptional performances from the newcomers, Sam Brewer who was outstanding, with great shots in defence, and huge metres gained with carries. HKP with a great defensive set, high tackle count, important turnovers and generally shithousery.