The Potbellies put us under pressure straight from the kick off and were camped on our line for the first quarter of an hour or so, throwing attack after attack at us.  Yet for all the time they had us pinned down they got nothing for it save strong DOGS tackling!  We made a couple of strong runs to break the stranglehold and got two penalties, courtesy of Mark Leppard to take us ahead.  Our strong pack dealt with everything the Potbellies could throw at us and were starting to find their rhythm and running.  There were strong runs from the pack with support close on to take the ball and forge on.  It was only a last hand or pass that stopped us reaching their line, along with desperate Potbellies tackling.  They would not give in, but slowly things were turning our way.  Julian 'the Joker' Phillips was keeping the opposition on the back foot too but began to be penalised for his tough, if (according to the referee) mis-timed scraggings of the scrum half.  However, no one could fault Julian’s aggressive defence and indefatigable ability to wind up our forwards and get in the face of the opposition.  He led by example, along with Woody, Rob Plunkett and Garret, who were running at the Potbellies with pace and power.

 

After half time, just 6 points up, it remained a tight game until a DOGgedly determined chase of a long kick by Dave Spragg that saw him touch down to really weaken the Potbellies’ spirits.  The front row were also now starting to lever up the pressure and completely dominate in the scrums, with strong driving from Curtis, Billy and Smithy.  Dave Burness had also come on for an injured Chris Downey and slotted in well getting fully involved in runs and with kicking.  Doha were now starting to dominate and to add to the mix, fresh substitutes came on with Woody moving to hooker to replace Chris Smith, Luke ‘Goddard’ Godley slotting into no.8, Trefor (I’m a Potbelly) Elliot coming on in the second row for Dale Ashford, and Graeme Webster replacing the bulldozing Billy Grant.  Later, the mammoth efforts of Curtis Wolstenholme were to be taken over by Stewart Allen in the front row.

 

Meanwhile, in the Backs, Martin Jones had come on to replace the strong running Marty Blackburn (whose opposite wing man was convinced was a young athletic guy!).  The backs had been running well all day with good moves and handling from Leppy and Downey in the first half almost seeing a try and also with Dave Burness and Martin Jones in the second.  However, the best back of the day was undoubtedly, Gary Parslow who was named joint MOM.  His crash ball running was top notch.  He was bouncing his opposite centre off and breaking tackles to burst through at regular intervals and only last ditch tackles were preventing tries.  It was down to our other MOM to finish things off and Luke ‘Goddard’ Godley, at no. 8 scored two well worked tries from the base of solid scrums on the 22.  He showed his pace and ball skills to crash over, using Shabby as a dummy runner interestingly enough.

 

It’s worth noting that Shabby worked hard to make sure he was there in support of the runner throughout the game and that it finally did pay off when he received a pass just a few yards out from the line.  However, he had apparently used up all his energy in the pursuit as he then promptly collapsed at the feet of a Potbellies defender.  Still, our COM was not to be Shabby, but a new/old vet by the name of Woody who managed to knock on the ball quite dramatically at times after confidently shouting the ball was his, and who also was suffering from a rare case of anti white line fever getting close to scoring but not quite making it.

 

We played some good rugby and eventually put around 30 points past them without letting a single score against us – GO DOGS!

 

In the end it was a clear victory for Doha, but hats off to Potbellies for their strong play and good hospitality.  It was generally a friendly game with good rugby played.  Thank you very much lads.

 

Cheers
Hopey