The sun shone on a crisp April morning and there was no indication of what was to come, no clue to prepare us for what lay ahead when we took our usual parking spot in school grounds behind the west stand.

I soon managed to upset a Saints fan at the ‘Gourmet Sausage' stand before the game. Looking pointedly at his watch; it was only 10.30, he suggested we were here "a bit early"  I told him I was keen to support the grass roots of rugby whenever I could and had made the effort to watch some junior rugby before the main event. Sadly that was the last laugh of the day.

I always think these double headers are a bit bizarre. The organisers sell blocks of tickets in the centre of the main stands opposite the cameras to give the impression of large support but the fact is large parts of the ground are sparsely occupied with comings and goings between matches all of which produces a surreal atmosphere.

Anyway we had the usual fire and brimstone arrival of the teams in monsoon conditions. You had to feel sorry for the Girls from the Rock Opera group Passionata who had been kept on the pitch to sing as the teams came out and by now were soaked and shivering cold

That all Irish group of officials lead by Alain Rolland got us underway and James Hook kicked off.

There's no clear pattern to the play in the early stages, Leicester keep it tight with the forwards and the anticipation whenever Ospreys get the ball in the backs is clear.

The first scum is called just inside the Tigers half advantage Leicester as Ospreys are pinged for driving in. Goody lines up an ambitious 55 metre penalty shot and falls well shot.

We don't have to wait long as Wyn Jones is penalised at the breakdown 35 out and this one sails over 3 - 0 Tigers.

Leicester continue their early possession and pressure, Goody tries a chip over the rush defence but hits it too long and Lee Byrne gets a chance to counter. Ospreys are clearly high on confidence and looking for running opportunities, however they turn the ball over an in a bizarre chip and chase. Hipkiss charges at the loose ball as it bounces he does a passable impression of  ‘Hong Kong Fuey' to hack on while in mid air.

More Tiger pressure and Ben Herring is to the fore with his winning ball on the ground. From a line out we drive on and camp just short of the line. Scrum becomes, maul becomes ruck and we spend a good 5 minutes probing at the Ospreys line but you know as it goes on the move becomes more predictable and we knock on to turn over the ball.

As Ospreys clear you think we really need to score in these situations.

Justin Marshall is starting to direct his forwards and with Hook always alive to the opportunity outside Ospreys start to get some ball. Just when he looks dangerous Marshall concedes a penalty and to a crescendo of jeers from the Saints fans behind the posts in the North Stand Goode pushes the penalty wide.

Tigers come back again, its proving difficult for Ospreys to get out of their own half after good work from Jonny Murphy the forwards drive on again, Ellis back to Goode and a clear strike Andy drops straight between the posts 6 - 0 Tigers and about 20 mins played.

What we didn't know at the time was that was it ! No more points were to come our way.

Ospreys starting to win those 50/50 collisions in the lose, Holah, Tiatia and Ryan Jones secured more quality ball and the incisiveness at half back gave the first Ospreys the first chance to score. James Hook picked up the ball on his own 10 metre line and running cross field he charged down the left touchline before being dragged down. We were penalised for killing the ruck but Hook pushed his penalty wide.

Goody went down with a heavy blow to the thigh and received some prolonged treatment while Hook lined up the penalty he limped back into position, to resume. But it was significant that minutes later Hook and Sonny Parker targeted the 10 channel and with 3 or 4 missed or non existent tackles Andrew Bishop crossed close to the posts for a 7 pointer  6 - 7 Ospreys.

For the remainder of the Half Leicester were under the cosh and only some stout defending and Ospreys mistakes prevented further scoring. Another surging run down the left with Williams, Byrne and Hook was halted just short and another penalty conceded. Hook, hooked this one left and we just about escaped to half time.

Even then a final chance when begging this time down the right when Vaughton combined with his back row an George Chuter pushed them into touch.

Half Time Tigers 6 - Ospreys 7

I was surprised to see Goode return for the 2^nd half as he was obviously in trouble with the knock on the leg but he got the second half under way.

Chuter snatched the ball off the Ospreys and with Hipkiss driven up the middle Tigers showed a bit more determination in the early seconds of the half.

However they turned the ball over and Ospreys and in a sweeping move combining backs and forwards saw several overlaps before Wyn Jones crashed over from short distance.

Hook hit a sweet conversion from the right and it really was not the start we wanted 6 - 14 to Ospreys.

Ospreys consolidated their position by hanging on to possession for the next 10 minutes and despite there being no scores, Leicester looked tired and devoid of ideas.

With about 20 minutes left we did rally and spent almost 10 minutes within the Ospreys 5 metre line. A series of driving mauls resulted in a penalty. Cozza chose to take a scrum and after a series of scrums and rucks we turned the ball and effectively the game over.

Increasingly panicky and devoid of ideas Tigers played into Ospreys hands trying to run the ball, it was really only the Ospreys own errors that there were no further tries. Several times they wasted gilt edged opportunities the worst when Shane Williams ran almost the width of the field, straightened the line and with a 3 on 1 overlap threw a forward pass !

Throw in a couple more Hook penalties from the endless stream of Tigers mistakes and the game was up.

Final Score Tigers 6 - Ospreys 23.

Well played Ospreys, worthy cup winners although in reality you did not have to play that well and at times I thought were a little too conservative. If they had been on song we would have shipped 50 points today.

Its difficult to know what forces combine amongst a group of players to result in such an inept performance. No one can doubt the talent and ability of the 22 players in the Leicester squad but here was a limited game plan so poorly executed that they looked like a junior club.

The players don't need us to tell them how awful they were, they will know only too well but the fact is the disappointment hurts for fans as much as it does for players and no doubt we will have to endure a week of hearing about how much it does hurt and how they are going to double there efforts etc etc.

If you look at the games when we have lost this season and I have seen them all the pattern is the same, pick and drive, pick and drive, drive again knock on !.... there is no direction no leadership no plan or so it would seem.

I thought that the Edinburgh game in the H Cup was particularly poor and my report on the Warriors away match reported a similar performance but this was certainly amongst the poorest.  Its 2 weeks since we lost to Wasps and if the collective effort of the coaching team is to produce a game plan to kick the ball at every opportunity to Shane Williams then perhaps we should question their sanity !

We have heard a lot about squad strength but the fact is we must now pick ourselves up and go to Bath on Tuesday night having to win. Given the state of half of the walking wounded I doubt we will be able to field 8 fit forwards and who knows about the backs.

Its not just the loss of a final that hurts, it's the realisation that we have lost our way (if we ever had it!) Those heady days at the turn of the year when we blitzed Quins at the stoop seem a different team almost.  The premiership is slipping away and I doubt we will make the top four play offs now. Have we done enough to get into Europe next year,? I hope so but nothing seems certain any more and its for that reason that I have checked my tickets for Tuesday night and am planning the drive to Bath....we may not have a great team at the moment but this is a Great club with great fans and it needs those great fans right now.. so I'll see you all at the Rec on Tuesday where one thing will be certain... its bound to be pouring down because my seat is in the open top Helphire stand............

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