From where I was sitting the Chiefs were worth the slender 5 - 0 lead, although a mate sitting in the Southern stand advised that the Pirates squandered two 3 attackers to 1 defender situations in the first half. Steenson's high kicks against the wind were strange to see - why do it more than once?  Josh getting up after his well taken try was really good news. Tom Johnson had another excellent game, his speed giving Josh the  chance to go for the corner.

The second half was "awesome" with the backs doing a lot of damage, aided of course by the forwards, For at least two of the tries the available options due to the number of Chiefs close to the ball was impressive. There could have been several men of the match, but I would not argue against Tom Bedford, especially having seen a re-run of his try on the local on TV news.

 The gift of a try to the Pirates was unfortunate but the lads were understandably throwing the ball about a bit at the end, and, of course it was cancelled out by one more try for the Chiefs

 The end of year try leader board is as follows:

 Matt Jess 13

Sean Marsden 12

Josh Dranuinu 11

Chris Budgen 8

Paul McKenzie  7 (from 6 games)

 The above are really impressive, and with the Friends try sponsorship also lucrative for the club.

 It was good to see two mascot's this year and the brass band were great but bearing in mind the size of the crowd, things were quieter than I expected. This being said, the drums and our indian "wails" were good to hear.

From someone who would rather be a Chief than a Pirate, "Seasons greetings"

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