Memorial Day Report: 08 December 2007

Bath Old Edwardians Rugby Club Presidents Day match took place in memory of former players and clubmen on saturday. The current 1st XV took on the Presidents XV in an exciting match in muddy conditions at King Edwards Playing Fields, Bathampton. The Presidents team was made up of ex players who have moved away from Bath or had hung up their boots due to stage of life issues. The game was typically hard fought and played in good spirits with plenty of repartee flying around. The Presidents team opted for a continual rolling sub policy where if you made a mistake you were replaced. Given the slippery conditions the substitutions came thick and fast. It was great to see some of the OE's stalwarts playing again - most somewhat bigger and slower since their last appearance. There was nothing to separate the teams with one try apiece at half time. But the OE's team pulled away in the second half as fitness issues started to impede the President's game plan. But they had one more strategy that they thought may make a difference - playing with more than fifteen men - it was a little while before the opposition and the referee noticed but this policy didn't work either as OE's managed to score with three fewer players on the pitch. It was a fun and entertaining game and a fitting tribute and there were plenty of beers in the clubhouse afterwards to celebrate and remember friends and teammates who are no longer with us.

And as it appeared in the Bath Chronicle...