And if they stare
Just let them burn their eyes on you moving
And if they shout
Don’t let them change a thing what you’re doing
Hold your head up, hold your head up
Hold your head up, hold your head high
Argent, Hold your head up, from the album, All together now, 1972.
Cast your minds back to Sept 17th 2011, to a sunny, early, autumnal Saturday which saw the newly compiled Kirk Lions, led by captain Taff, take on Wirral 4 in their 1st home game of the season. Hopes were high for a first victory of the campaign, with a team blended with youth and experience which had no fear of the big outfit in front of them. Alas for the high hopes of the fledgling Lions, beaten black and blue off the park, 75-3, a dark day for the team, and lesser mortals would have walked away after such a nadir. So harsh was the beating I really did wonder if I was cut out for such trials and tribulations as captain. It was a fleeting, foolish notion that now seems worlds away from where I see myself and my team today. Yes we still lost, but performance-wise and spiritually I walked off the pitch today as if we had won. Such is the gorgeous beauty of rugby, captaincy and aged lunacy that dominates this Welsh head of mine. Rod Argent’s words above are a fitting tribute to the lads I call my team, my friends, my Lions. The match report follows thus.
On a damp, soggy pitch with a howling wind, this game was never going to be a feast of running rugby, and this was proven to be the point in the first 20 mins with the rugby being mostly a war of attrition between the forwards, sometimes punctuated by brief dazzling back-play, only to see promising moves scythed down in the mud. No quarter asked, none given, in brave tackling displays by both sides, defences stout and even.
But something had to give, and unfortunately Wirral’s bigger pack held the advantage in the difficult conditions which led to them scoring the opening try in the 20th minute to lead 5-0, and this score was farcically increased to 12-0 when the referee awarded Wirral a try after the ball had clearly come straight out of a 5 metre scrum, and was touched down by a keen Wirral flanker, who must have had arms like Stretch Armstrong to still be bound on at the scrum! C’est la vie!
Some recompense was granted when after another ferocious Wirral attack, Russ Brennan magically ushered a certain Wirral try scorer over the dead-ball line, the look of embarrassment and foolishness was enough to raise Kirk spirits, and the Lions had their best period of the match, camped on the Wirral line, but despite great close range efforts by Taff, Richmond and Quirk, the Lions just could not get the ball grounded and the half ended before the Lions could charge again!
The second half began much the same, but with Wirral making several changes at the break, their superior forward power once again threatened to overwhelm the Kirk men, especially when they crossed for their 3rd try with 20 mins left, which when converted left the Lions trailing 19-0. But the Lions made Wirral fight all the way for every inch of coveted soil, with all Lion defenders putting in the hits to hold the hordes back, and occasionally going on a sneaky counter-attack, but defending takes its toll and Wirral finally broke through late on, scoring from a nifty back-row move from a close-range scrum, making the final score 24-0.
The last time I had seen defending like this was in the Michael Caine film, Zulu. As stated above, 5 months ago we crumbled against this team, this time we made them work for everything, and had we not lost Dan Baille after 20 mins, who knows what would have occurred. His constant surging runs allied to the great support work and graft of the forwards gave Wirral a ton of problems to cope with as did centres Waterhouse and Quirk, and when Baillie went off, Shafi played a blinder at full-back. The difference between the teams was that they took their 4 chances, we did not.
Other performances of note, Ed Szymanski looked assured in his first start at 7, and Nial O’Hagan had a more than useful first full game at hooker, Josh Williams didn’t score this time but is still a big presence on the pitch, and even his more aged 2nd row partner was seen to be putting in the tackles, 7 apparently as counted by Shafi, another 7 may have stopped Wirral winning. Message to self: must try harder…… The mighty atom, Nick Grant, continues to defy his stature with some useful tackling of the Wirral big boys, I bet they had a shock as they fell like trees in the forest at the hands of the Lions’ diminutive axe-man. Alan Rees made his first league appearance with a ten min cameo, as did new boy Peter Robinson, both looked confident and neither let the side down, great effort chaps, keep it up, and Graeme Ford played most of the game this wk which is another bonus for the Lions, and he left the pitch smiling.
This week, the captain’s pick goes to the Big Dog himself, Si Richmond. Vocal, effervescent and back to his best. Sniping and aggressive, he kept the Lions going forward, cropping up like the Hydra’s long lost child on several occasions to halt unsuspecting Wirral would-be attackers. Mate, it’s great to have you back, deserved man of the match.
Lions, the title of Fat Boy Slim’s epic 1998 album, you’ve come a long way baby, seems very appropriate don’t you think?
Hold those heads up lads.
Green Army!
Taffy.
