On a very wet and windy Saturday we fought our way through the West London traffic with a squad of 17 players to take on a very strong Barnes team. Having lost Wayne and Locky to the 1s and Gozzer to the 2s we were down to the bare bones with a couple of players who were carrying injuries in true Owls spirit agreeing to give it ago.

We got off to a great start with the pack dominating the set piece/ breakdown, Clarky box kicking to good effect and everyone chasing to put Barnes under real pressure. A clever great kick through won us a lineout 10m from the Barnes line. We went for the old Spud to Kev back to Spud at the front of the lineout which worked to perfection with Spud crashing over in the corner. Unfortunately Spud popped his already delicate calf celebrating and having already lost Elliot in the first 5 minutes we now facing playing the rest of the game with no subs.

Following our flying start Barnes youth and superior fitness began to pay off and despite some heroic defense and huge effort by many players we were unable to stop there offloading game and they were able to score 7 excellent tries. I would like to thank all the players for their efforts to the final whistle. A big thank you to Geraint who made his Owls debut ( We usually see throwing up like that on tour not on a wet and windy November) and Tiger who stepped in for Spud making a long overdue Owls debut.
Up front Luke Goggin really stood out and as always Clarky won his own individual battle with his opposite number. Goggin said to me at the end that despite the big defeat it was strangely enjoyable battling against a very good Vets team in proper course rugby conditions (most players showered in their kit to get the mud off).

Like one of the poor tier two teams in the Rugby world cup we don’t get any time to feel sorry for ourselves or to recover as we face Ealing at home under the lights this Friday 20th at 7.45pm. It is really important for our season that we put on a strong performance against Ealing and I hope we can put out a really competitive squad. The two Friday evening games we have played so far this season have been great games to be part of and this Friday we get to test ourselves against a championship club.

The following players have already confirmed that they can play;

Kev
Amos
Barry Scott
Coxxy
Michael Cumberlidge
Deanno
Chris Ayling
Nathan
Mark Willet
Gareth
Joe
Huw
Barge
New Fullback (Barry has found)
Jim Gerty

I am waiting for confirmation from the following; If you are on this list please confirm back to me asap( I need you).
Dukey
Wayne
Luke Goggin
Gozzer
Randal
Nick Allsorp
Steggs
Browny
Howard Bullett
Locky
Ollie Sell
Willem
Marc Sugrue
Brooksy
Dowdy

Injured
Spud
Elliot
Bill Painter
Spike
Danny
Bugsy

Paternity
Basson

I really need everyone’s support now if we are going to keep the season on track and the best way we can do that is by performing against a Championship club on Friday evening. If you haven’t already committed to play please look at making yourself available.

The day after the Ealing Game (Saturday 21st) Gareth is hosting his first lunch as President and it would be fantastic if as many Owls as possible showed their support for Gareth by attending this lunch and hearing Gareth’s first speech.”Chef,Chef,Chef” . PLEASE COME BACK TO ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND THE LUNCH?

Cheers

Kev