When the opposition arrived earlier than expected and asked for an early kick off, we were willing to oblige considering shirts and boys were soaked through and half drowned just from the warm-up. But would our players meet the coaches' demand for a fast start and pressure from a quick responding defensive line? Yes. Yes they would.

Alex Winning kicked off and fast pressure from the boys forced the first action from our opposition to be a knock on. Our first scrum saw us completely bulldozed by a very strong St Leonards/Madras pack and our early attack quickly turned to defence. A sense of de ja vu rippled along the touchline as within 5 minutes talisman forward Freddy Dawes dropped to his knees injured and then be escorted off; possibly for the first time in his 11-year playing career? Within 10 minutes Miko Ozturk joined him on the touchline. Oh no.

The first 20 minutes of the game saw us camped in our own half, much of it in our 22, but our defence refused to yield to their pressure. However, The Blues did break through to score in the 13th minute. Rare opportunities we had in possession didn't result in much territory gain; the normally reliable boot of Euan Budge skidding a few metres into touch, Logan Moncrieff seemingly forgetting how to catch. They say bad luck comes in threes and sure enough, on the 20 minute mark John Winther had to be dragged off the pitch after refusing to accept his head knock was significant. Duncan McEwen took the break in play to wash his face of blood and Freddy Dawes drew breath and went back into battle so that we could keep a full complement of players on the field. 

It was a break that served us well as the backs re-grouped and found a sense of purpose in attack. On the 22 minute mark scrum half Joseph Gould picked up from a scrum on the halfway line, drew his player and offloaded to a rejuvenated Quinn Webber on the wing. A fantastic weaving run was halted on the 5m line, leaving our forwards, and ultimately the returning Logan Moncrieff, to score a much needed try. Euan Budge duly converted the 5 points to 7.

Looking to keep the momentum in our favour, on 25 minutes Joseph Gould box kicked through and with our fast back line in hot pursuit, The Blues were pressured to knock on. The 'Endrick boys then enjoyed 5-10 minutes pressure of their own but were not quite able to break through. Despite fantastic pressure from the lightening Oscar Millar, the visitors managed to kick clear leaving George Parkin a horrible low bouncing ball to deal with. The advancing runner was first to control the ball and run in to score. The 'Endrick boys didn't blink, straight back at the opposition determined to score again before half time. Jack McVicar taking a deep catch, run, kick and superb follow up chase. Freddy Dawes constantly spoiling their lineout. 7-12 at half time.

Over the course of the first half the referee was very strict, and fair, in challenging borderline high tackles. He spoke to both teams at half time to warn that the next one would result in a yellow card. 

We started the second half with real intent from the off. Euan Budge gaining excellent territory with a penalty kick to touch and a delightful chip and chase from Archie Horsburgh were just two examples. But it was a typical swerving run from Jack McVicar that was terminated by a high tackle from The Blues. Yellow card.

Despite our numerical advantage, such was the competitiveness of the game, we found ourselves again camped in our own 22m line for over 5 minutes. Whilst we needed to defend as a team, Peter Smith was typically terrier like in not letting his size be any excuse for allowing much bigger players past him. With The Blues looking certain the score, Archie Horsburgh stole the ball on the touchline and kicked clear. Quinn Webber chased, picked up and offloaded to Logan Moncrieff, who was looking like his old self again. Like a rhino, he charged for the try line with no defence in place, until a high tackle from his blind spot brought this beast to the floor. The referee penalised the high tackle but no penalty try or yellow card appeared. Such is a feature of this new look team, no moaning or whinging, they just got on and played, with our backs showing fantastic creativity to ship the ball to the opposite wing for Jack McVicar to score. Euan Budge converted. 14-12, game on!

More skills from our backs was exemplified by a sublime Alex Winning kick with the outside of his boot, keeping the pressure on the visitors. In pursuing this pressure in their half, Johnny Buckley received a yellow card of his own for a high tackle. This time it was our turn to assert dominance in the face of inferior numbers on the pitch. However, tragedy struck when Euan Budge went on a typically strong run to be innocuously tap tackled and brought crashing to the floor. Despite being in horrendous pain he managed the offload only to then lie still on the pitch for a number of minutes. Later in the day the hospital would diagnose a broken collar-bone. Still undeterred, with scores too close to allow distraction, on 65 minutes, Logan Moncrieff belatedly got his second try of the game. Quinn Webber took the kick and converted. 21-12.

Despite late pressure from St Leonards/Madras, the battling wounded clung on to an incredible victory. Celebrations were wild as they left the field in scenes reminiscent of the Battle of Somme; wounded, bloodied, bandaged, muddy but victorious. 

POTM council took a long time to deliberate over this week's winner. In the mix were Duncan McEwen, Freddy Dawes, Alex Winning and Luke Watson. But in the end it went to the returning Logan Moncrieff.