Finally the cigar

Buxton Thirds 10 Aldwinians 0

Buxton Thirds produced an outstanding defensive display to beat Aldwinians and make a mockery of their position at the bottom of the league, in an intense, bruising and at times ill-tempered final game of the season.

Buxton got off to just the start they needed only three minutes into the game. Bosely made a stunning break from 40 metres out blasting through the midfield tacklers before jinking down the wing and beating the despairing cover tackles to score in the corner. From this Aldwinians came back strongly at the Thirds, but superb organisation defensively kept them at bay. Ritchie and Packer were instrumental in organising and keeping the defensive line. Edge and McGuigan began to work well together. McGuigans probing kicks relieved the pressure and Edge sniped and tackled well around the fringes and the pack was beginning to exert some pressure on the Aldwinian eight sending them backwards and disrupting their ball.

The Buxton lineout functioned well with Charles taking plenty of ball and Cavanagh collecting the scraps. Options were somewhat limited when Dilworth had to retire towards the end of the first half but Barber proved his worth, disrupting the opposition ball.

Buxton’s pack was working overtime in the loose. Rose slowed up possession on the floor and Allen relished the opportunity to take down the big runners. When Buxton had the ball Bosley was outstanding breaking tackles, making the yards and recycling the ball.

Aldwinians created a couple of chances in broken play but first Nicholas and then Jardin made try saving tackles. A missed penalty chance in front of the posts added to Aldwinians woes.

Aldwinians frustration began to boil over in the second half. They fell out amongst themselves and the Thirds exploited this by increasing the defensive pressure and causing mistake after mistake.

Despite being under territorial pressure Buxton managed to work their way out. McGuigan darted through a gap and then sensing space behind the defence put in a perfectly weighted kick. Nicholas had a race to the line against the full back but the young centre won by a yard to touch down for Buxton’s second to give them a 10 – lead.

Aldwinians threw everything into the match and set up camp in the Buxton twenty two for twenty minutes. Despite the vociferous support from their supporters they could not break Buxton down. Wave after wave of attacks were stemmed, Allen, Fussell and Charles to the fore with Henderson, Barber and Rose wrapping up anything out wide and Cavanagh and Uprichard scrapping for everything on the floor. The Thirds gave away a succession of penalties and finally the referee lost patience. Cavanagh was the unfortunate recipient of a yellow card. Aldwinians sensed that with Buxton down to fourteen men this was their chance. But try as they might there was no way through. Buxton held out until Cavanagh returned. Indeed Aldwinians were lucky not to have men carded themselves for some careless use of the boot. Having spent the afternoon going nowhere round the fringes they resorted to moving the ball along the line only to find that the defensive resolve was just as firm out wide as first Handcock and then Lownds made hard hitting tackles.

With Cavanagh restored Aldwinians resolve crumbled and a raking McGuigan kick took Buxton to within sight of the Aldwinans line. From a five-metre scrum Charles picked and drove to the line. He was held short of the line but Fussell continued the move and seemed to have grounded the ball only for it to be deemed to have been held up.

Continuing the pressure quick hands through Nicholas and Bosely put Dawson into space. He beat off one tackler and went over in the corner and spilled the ball as he made contact with the line. Again the try was disallowed. But time was running out and the whistle went to give the Thirds their first win of 2008. It was an outstanding effort by the whole squad and a fitting way to round off what has been at times a difficult season.

Rose (Wood 50m), Uprichard, Fussell, Dilworth (Barber 30m), Cavanagh, Allen, Charles, Henderson, Edge (Packer 45m), McGuiggan, Ritchie (Handcock 60m), Bosely, Nicholas, Jardin (Dawson 45m), Packer (Lownds 45m)

Apres Match

Man of the Match - Gaz though Geoff came a close second
Twat in the Hat - Should have been the Aldwinian supporters

So that's it for another season. A big thank you to Chris Allen for doing a fantastic job as Captain (hopefully he will consider having a second go)We all look forward to his speech at the Club dinner.

Tina Turner - Simply The Best (Divas Live 1999)

Thats what we were today. Fantastic way to end the season.

Simply the best

Alex Ferguson save your breath, We saved the best for last. We were simply outstanding today. We dug deep, and produced one of the best defensive efforts in the history of the third team. Forget glorious defeats this was an outstanding awesome display, and everyone who put on a shirt made a contribution. Oh yeah the score was 10 -0 but who cares, we won.

If only we'd had Godfrey

Buxton Third XV 17 Burnage 31

Buxton thirds, still looking for their first win of 2008 came close to pulling off a victory and but for a couple of errors in the second half the score could have been very different.

Buxton began slowly and despite establishing a strong platform in the set piece they were unable to convert possession into points, struggling to win the breakdown. Burnage, quick to turn defence into attack, turned over ball on the half way line and a series of sweeping moves put them in at the corner. Burnage had the better of the possession for the next five minutes and a sloppy defensive lapse close to their own line let Burnage in for their second try.

A nasty injury to the skipper Allen disrupted Buxton a little. But some reorganisation brought stability back. Dilworth took over the blind side duties and Cavanagh came onto bolster the second row. Though still struggling to establish territory Buxton began to make more of their possession and some strong running by Jardin and Nicholas showed what they were capable of. As usual Packer was solid at full back, and Dawson and Ritchie worked hard with him to organise the defence.

The thirds began the second half in storming fashion. Edge replaced Fussell to give some extra pace in the loose and the forwards began to exert themselves. Cavanagh began to make inroads in to the defence and with Bosley causing panic every-time he had the ball holes began to appear in the defence. After Bosley had breached the defence again, the forwards took control of the ball and after Uprichard and Henderson had set up the position, Cavanagh dragged three defenders with him and crashed over the line for Buxton’s opening try. This brought them back to within a score and they were in the ascendancy. The next five minutes took the game effectively away from them. Two poor pieces of kicking gave the initiative back to Burnage who took full advantage to score two quick tries. Buxton refused to lie down and dominated the remaining twenty minutes of the game. The forwards ran controlled possession at the Burnage defence, Bearman and Rose doing sterling work. A quick tap penalty by Edge saw a try disallowed. Another powerful Buxton scrum drove the Burnage eight back and it was Tim Charles who claimed the try from the ruck of bodies. Sneddon came on for his first game for six months and made an immediate impact. With the forwards creating opportunities, Preece and Stratford began to exploit the space out-wide. Several times they created overlaps only for these to be squandered. Eventually the pressure told and Bosley battered his way over the line for a well-deserved score. Preece, playing he promises will be his last game for the Thirds before retiring, almost scored himself but the weight of defenders was to much even for him.

Another improved performance, but these are the games that the Thirds are capable of wining. A little more self-belief and they could have taken the game.


Bearman, Uprichard, Fussell (Edge 40m), Dilworth (Cavanagh 20m) Rose, Allen, (Dilworth 20m) Charles, Henderson, Preece, Stratford, Ritchie (Lownds), Bosley, Nicholas (Sneddon 58m), Dawson (Jardin 40m), Packer (Procter 55m)

Apres Match

Man of the Match - Brendon, who then claimed the twat in the hat

Fuck up of the day - The traitorous Tom Edge for refusing to pass so that he did not let a rival score a try. (Apparently he is top try scorer)

The Waistcoat issue was settled by a judgement remarkable for its erudition and legal insight.

Captain our Captain returned from hospital stitched up but still bleeding and then managed to play the guitar and sing at his Birthday party. Well done.

League update - we are still bottom and now have no chance of catching Sandbach. But it would be good to win the last two games.

Our Glorious Leader is Forty!

Comrades, our glorious leader is forty. Let us celebrate this with him after the game in a nice and civilized way, like we always do!



Our leader speaks;

"Let there be no doubt that the dark clouds of defeat are now rolling away and that the tide of victory is rising and a win of unprecedented magnitude is on the cards and will swamp the opposition in a tidal wave of tries."

Censored Again

Apparently verse does not sit easily on the sports pages of our esteemed local paper, what they want is facts and names so that people can recognise each other. Well I have some news for them. My match reports have never bourne any relation to facts and in next weeks report,which I have written already, everyone is going to be named Godfrey.