Frostiest it’s been since Jim’s records began....

Manchester entertaining Waterloo on the first team pitch and ultimately progressing into the last four of the Lancashire Cup.

Jim had sent a flurry of texts on Saturday evening, each with a slightly more precise estimate of the plummeting temperatures, Scribbler at one point began to get concerned for his sanity after imagining him in the middle of the roundabout near The Chilli Banana with a thermometer in one hand and his car keys in the other as he tried to see if the surface would take a key. By the end of the text tirade we knew that it was the coldest night in Wilmslow since Jim’s records had begun.... it was also the first night of his record keeping.

Jim and Scribbler, probably both a little worse for wear or wine, decided it would be a good idea to have an early pitch inspection; so at 8:30 on Sunday the head-ached duo scientifically worked out that the pitch was frozen and that if the sun got on it - it might thaw a bit...... brilliant!

To the game.... it was obvious for all to see that the poor weather, school sevens and skiing commitments over the last few weeks (our last match was a month ago!) meant that we were a little rusty for the first fifteen minutes or so. The coaching team are also going to check the translators as none of our carefully crafted game plan made it on to the pitch... however this is also a strength of this group of players who make their decisions as they see the game unfold in front of them and it has served them pretty well so far this season.

When we finally hit our straps today we started to play some of the nice fifteen man rugby we can play and scored some well worked tries, normal service resumed for GB and Wolfy and it was fabulous to see Hanno back in the zone again; Coaches unsung hero award today must go to the Prof who must be right up there with the yardage and tackle count and I have made the comparison before but there is something of the Scott Gibbs about they way he is playing. The tries out wide also owe a lot to the great work by the forwards, who as ever quietly got on with winning a lot of ball for us to play with and (as pointed out by Plastic Jim) critically denying Waterloo much quality ball all morning. Mazlaar and One Boot continue a developing partnership by giving their opposite numbers enough to think about before shipping the ball to the plethora of runners we seemed to have.

It was great to see our recent recruits Mayo and Hooky (sounds like a 1970s ventriloquist act?) making their debuts today and also to ensure there was game time for all including McHooker (best drive of the day), Cannabis Jnr who had his gum shield in all the time Mum, Usain, Finger and JPR - a real squad effort.

If there wasn’t enough competition on the pitch we now have developing Supporter Wars; The Clampetts from Marple (sic) WOODLEY who have been ahead all year (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!) were challenged by The Mazlaars today; at one point I saw them standing close to some people I didn’t recognise; I wonder if they were just pretending they knew them.... need a Stewards enquiry to sort this out!

So, thanks to Waterloo for making the trip across to Manchester, to McRef for stepping into the breach and finally to the army of supporters - I know the boys really value the support they get.