The Extras bounced back from last week’s defeat over at Camp Hill with a resounding victory over a struggling Southam second string. The Extras displayed the ruthlessness which saw them as 72-0 victors in the previous fixture, and all though Southam played much better this time round, the Extras were the better side by a country mile....

Now there were lots of tries here, and as I don’t have the benefit of video replay this time around I may have the order wrong and some of the details may be leaning further towards fiction than fact, but you try remembering how 9 tries were scored!

First try was defiantly Ian Maull (I think....). The outside centre collected a pass after repeated OL’s incursions on the Southam defensive line left gaps out wide. Ian found one such gap and scampered through like a little terrier. Mark Bisset got four conversions today and I think he got this one, though it must be said that as all conversions were actually drop goals, this was an impressive feat.

Next try went to the aforementioned Mark Bisset. Mark’s personal tally against Southam this season was 29 before the game, so you can imagine that these guys were less than looking forward to playing against him again. Marks first of his brace occurred shortly after Ian Maull had opened the scoring. Dudley collected a loose ball from a Southam scrum, skinned one covering tackler before releasing Bisset. Mark rounded the remaining defender with ease and touched down under the posts.

Ian Maull scored again (I’m reasonably sure this was when he did), though the details escape me so let your imagination run wild as to how he did it. Mark probably converted this one as well.

Try four I distinctly remember; Luke Cobb, gallivanting second rower extraordinaire found himself out in the backs (those of us who know him well will be unsurprised to hear he was there), he collected a kick and set off for the Southam try line from forty meters or so out. Seeing the defence making it’s way over to tackle him, Cobby cleverly drew his man and offloaded to Richard “Loreal; because I’m worth it” Linfield. The floppy haired full back cut a sublime angle and touched down for what I believe was his first try for the Extras this season.

The try’s in the second half has a slightly more individual flavour to them. Paul Brown, terroriser of many a front row, battered his way through some incredibly stupid Southam defenders, (I mean really; trying to tackle Browny high? ARE YOU INSANE????) touching down from short range.

Today saw the debut of two new OL’s players. Sam Forrest and Ted Goener made their first appearances in the stripes of Gold and Blue. Sam Forrest scored the try his performance merited; the lanky Kiwi making a half dozen cracking runs and making far more break downs than he had any right to as a member of the front row. Sam’s try came after the pack had made good headway through the middle, offloading out of tackles as they went.

Mark Bisset scored his second, taking his personal points tally against Southam to 47 (Yes, forty seven!), making his way around the outside after collecting an Alex Morgan pass. I am fairly certain that Southam will be happy to NEVER see Mark again. It should be mentioned at this point that Aaron Dudley had a crack at the drop goals after a couple of misses, and was successful with his attempt.

Raj Bahey then added a try of his won. The scrum was a fairly hotly contested area all game, and it was after a five meter scrum was driven back that CJ was able to pick up and bash through the fly half to score.

The final try of the game goes to Aaron Dudley. Following good work by Luke Cobb, Chris Bishop was unable to make the line, being tackled just short. Fortunately, Dudley was around to finish the job in the corner with some serious stretching.

All in all, a good return for the effort put into the game. There were many positives, though as pointed out by a few in the bar afterwards it’s hard to be objective when the score line is as one sided as it appears. There were good bits, and some bad. Our concentration slipped a couple of times, and Southam did score a good try pouncing on a loose ball and kicking through. There were good periods of play when we didn’t succumb to white line fever, and these periods produced nine tries.

Barcode "Man of the Match" goes to Sam Forrest for a great overall performance on his debut; though honorable mentions should also go to Paul Brown, Ted Goener (especially for putting up with a bloody nose courtesy of Mr. Forrest..), Mark Bisset, Alex Morgan, Ian Maull and Richard Linfield.

Not bad gentlemen, now let’s do it to the Trinity Guild......