The last laugh
House (and Gardens) of Pain
The last laugh
By MrsGoz
October 19 2005
Yet again this week we spent too long when putting the nails in the coffin and the vampire managed to sink his teeth before making a swift, and not unstylish, escape.
The last laugh
October 19 2005
Yet again this week we spent too long when putting the nails in the coffin and the vampire managed to sink his teeth before making a swift, and not unstylish, escape.
Saturday saw the LI faithful making their way in a sort of northerly direction to the Hanging Gardens of Franklin. We went by car, on foot (they’re still looking for sponsorship so do please dig deep) and for those who had nothing better to do with 4 hours, by coach.
As usual, the food and drink on offer were plentiful and of excellent quality. It’s almost worth going just for the pig rolls and those who had the balti and chips are unlikely to need any more food until at least Thursday.
The Saints with Heart collectors were out in force and those who did the walk wore their medals and blisters with deserved pride. They were easy to spot; it was those with steaming feet being held up for appraisal!
Anyhar, on to the business of the day; Himself and I took our place leaning on the bar in D section surrounded by Saints supporters. I forgot to take the lucky heather this year so it was fortunate that we were not hailed as pikeys!! The pre-match entertainment came in the form of Ted Fletcher, hmmm. OK, so the fact that when he sang the music was cut off didn’t help but basically – No! And how come (given that Saints never stop singing their one-line ditty) he couldn’t get them going with that? Bizarre!
Now I have to say that our position did not afford the best possible view of the proceedings so I can only give a general flavour of the 90+ minutes.
The opening 10 minutes were fast-paced and highly entertaining to watch; both teams came out with energy and while even at that point there were mistakes made, they were fairly evenly balanced.
Reihana’s try – after less than 5 minutes – appeared to be the result of sloppy play (Irish) and quick thinking (Saints). Flutey managed to salvage something from that initial period and the scores were (briefly) 7-3 to the Saintly ones.
Only a matter of minutes later (timing is a little vague as the clock was almost invisible from where we were standing) Flutey managed to intercept a sloping pass and sprinted down the field to touch down before duly adding a conversion. 7-10 and we’d started to perk up a bit!
The play throughout seemed to be well balanced with, if anything, Irish looking just that little bit more together. That opinion was reinforced when Feau’nati – with his unique running gait – set off towards the line and managed to pop the ball down right in front of us. Flutey obliged with the conversion and the score was a healthy 7-17. A subsequent exchange of penalties saw the score move to 10-20 before Reihana again crossed the line to make the score 15-20. The conversion was missed but a penalty took the score at half time to 18-20.
The second half saw both teams eager but neither really able to convert desire into points. A penalty saw Flutey add 3 points to our score but still a gap of 5 wasn’t enough of a cushion. Himself had mentioned earlier that the New Zealanders said Flutey couldn’t kick and we had a smug snigger to ourselves. Sadly I think he may have said it a little too loudly as he then missed two penalties and a drop goal attempt. Play was largely contained in the centre of the field although with long balls being exchanged between the sides it was a little frustrating to watch.
The end of 80 minutes saw the scores static at 18-23 and I will confess that I dared to hope for another victorious trip home. That’ll learn me.
Irish managed to concede a penalty right at the end of added time. Saints had to play it and play it they most certainly did! There was a moment of suspended disbelief as the ball worked it’s way across the pitch to Cohen who neatly sidestepped the Irish defence to touch down. And I know it’s unsporting but I desperately hoped that Reihana would miss the conversion which of course he didn’t. So there it was, 25-23 as the players made their way from the field.
Do I think we played badly? – no I don’t. We made mistakes but so did Saints.
Do I think we lost to a better team? – no I don’t
Do I think we were robbed? – no. I think we gave it away. We had our chances but unlike Saints, we didn’t take (all of) them.
As for MoTM, I honestly don’t know. Sure, Flutey was impressive for us, his try was an excellent solo achievement. Feau’nati also scored a beautiful try. The defence were immense right up to the end and the team seemed really tight together throughout.
You’ll notice no comments about the referee, that’s because I really didn’t notice him – which to my mind means he was doing it right! Don’t know that the Northampton branch of the Cyclops family (stood just behind us) would agree but we all see it differently and they left happily enough in the end.
As usual, the food and drink on offer were plentiful and of excellent quality. It’s almost worth going just for the pig rolls and those who had the balti and chips are unlikely to need any more food until at least Thursday.
The Saints with Heart collectors were out in force and those who did the walk wore their medals and blisters with deserved pride. They were easy to spot; it was those with steaming feet being held up for appraisal!
Anyhar, on to the business of the day; Himself and I took our place leaning on the bar in D section surrounded by Saints supporters. I forgot to take the lucky heather this year so it was fortunate that we were not hailed as pikeys!! The pre-match entertainment came in the form of Ted Fletcher, hmmm. OK, so the fact that when he sang the music was cut off didn’t help but basically – No! And how come (given that Saints never stop singing their one-line ditty) he couldn’t get them going with that? Bizarre!
Now I have to say that our position did not afford the best possible view of the proceedings so I can only give a general flavour of the 90+ minutes.
The opening 10 minutes were fast-paced and highly entertaining to watch; both teams came out with energy and while even at that point there were mistakes made, they were fairly evenly balanced.
Reihana’s try – after less than 5 minutes – appeared to be the result of sloppy play (Irish) and quick thinking (Saints). Flutey managed to salvage something from that initial period and the scores were (briefly) 7-3 to the Saintly ones.
Only a matter of minutes later (timing is a little vague as the clock was almost invisible from where we were standing) Flutey managed to intercept a sloping pass and sprinted down the field to touch down before duly adding a conversion. 7-10 and we’d started to perk up a bit!
The play throughout seemed to be well balanced with, if anything, Irish looking just that little bit more together. That opinion was reinforced when Feau’nati – with his unique running gait – set off towards the line and managed to pop the ball down right in front of us. Flutey obliged with the conversion and the score was a healthy 7-17. A subsequent exchange of penalties saw the score move to 10-20 before Reihana again crossed the line to make the score 15-20. The conversion was missed but a penalty took the score at half time to 18-20.
The second half saw both teams eager but neither really able to convert desire into points. A penalty saw Flutey add 3 points to our score but still a gap of 5 wasn’t enough of a cushion. Himself had mentioned earlier that the New Zealanders said Flutey couldn’t kick and we had a smug snigger to ourselves. Sadly I think he may have said it a little too loudly as he then missed two penalties and a drop goal attempt. Play was largely contained in the centre of the field although with long balls being exchanged between the sides it was a little frustrating to watch.
The end of 80 minutes saw the scores static at 18-23 and I will confess that I dared to hope for another victorious trip home. That’ll learn me.
Irish managed to concede a penalty right at the end of added time. Saints had to play it and play it they most certainly did! There was a moment of suspended disbelief as the ball worked it’s way across the pitch to Cohen who neatly sidestepped the Irish defence to touch down. And I know it’s unsporting but I desperately hoped that Reihana would miss the conversion which of course he didn’t. So there it was, 25-23 as the players made their way from the field.
Do I think we played badly? – no I don’t. We made mistakes but so did Saints.
Do I think we lost to a better team? – no I don’t
Do I think we were robbed? – no. I think we gave it away. We had our chances but unlike Saints, we didn’t take (all of) them.
As for MoTM, I honestly don’t know. Sure, Flutey was impressive for us, his try was an excellent solo achievement. Feau’nati also scored a beautiful try. The defence were immense right up to the end and the team seemed really tight together throughout.
You’ll notice no comments about the referee, that’s because I really didn’t notice him – which to my mind means he was doing it right! Don’t know that the Northampton branch of the Cyclops family (stood just behind us) would agree but we all see it differently and they left happily enough in the end.
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