On a dry but windy afternoon, the Beavers travelled to play Ossett 2nd team and the 19 players made their way including a tall, red faced man on his seasonal debut.

On arriving at Ossett, the Beavers got changed, the team was announced and then had to jump in the cars to get to the ground, which is not always the best preparation for a game. However, the Beavers did some warming up and ran though a few lineouts to get the journey out of their legs and CJ talked about keeping the game tight and disciplined.

The referee called the captains together and the toss was won by CJ who decided to play into the wind in the first half. The referee then explained he wanted players to stay on their feet at breakdown situations and not come in from the sides - you just know what happened for the next 70 minutes!

The referee blew his whistle with Ossett kicking off and the Beavers collected the ball, drove forward, set up a ruck and then a flying Ossett forward came right over the top and killed the ball - play on said the referee, oh dear, a long afternoon could of been on the cards.

However, the Beavers kept their discipline ans started to put some moves together and drove Ossett back with good tackling from the back row and centres. The lineout was working well in the windy conditions but the scrum was struggling a bit with the Ossett props boring in on Joe Fee. Ossett did not really use the wind advantage so much of the play was in the middle of the field but after about 15 minutes, Jason Carroll made a break which took play into the Ossett 22. The ball was recycled quickly which stretched the home defence which created an opportunity for Mr Flynn to go for the corner but he was held up over the line - although he did get the ball down prior to be held up. This did not deter the Beavers, as from the 5 metre scrum, quick ball was won, passed along the backline and an inside pass found Phil Horton 3 metres out and he duly popped over for a try. Shed attempted the conversion but it drifted wide.

From the kick off, the Beavers collected and drove forward and a brief melee followed as CJ was bitten and then set upon by 3 Ossett players. The referee blew his whistle and called for the two captains and CJ tried to explain that " I don't mind being punched but not bitten" to the referee, who told him to be quiet. CJ calmed down and the Beavers know that Ossett were trying to rile them so discipline was the order of the day.

The Beavers began to take more control and after about 30 minutes, from a lineout on the Ossett 22, Andy Moss took a great ball off the top, the quick ball released the backs and from a scissors move, Scott Wilson came in on a great angle and touched down by the posts, which Shed converted.

With the half time whistle approaching, the Beavers held firm and did not let Ossett have a sniff of the tryline. The half time whistle went and the Beavers were leading 12 nil.

A good start to 2nd half was the message at half time, and the Beavers duly did this by putting the ball long with the wind (sometimes too long as the wind took it over the dead ball line) and playing in the Ossett half. The forwards started to get the upper hand and the referee started to penalise the Ossett infringements (a few rugby league high tackles) and with the wind in his favour, Shed kicked 3 penalties to turn the screw and the lead went to 21 nil. Continued great tackling by the Beavers with Andy Moss outstanding, kept Ossett pinned in their own 22.

Phil Bailey had to leave the field so it went to uncontested scrums and this created a platform for the backs. A couple of subs were made with Tag and Declan joining the fray with about 15 minutes left and Tag's first two touches were an interception pass and an attempted kick which did not leave the ground and left him on his backside - chuckles were heard on the touchline.

With gaps starting to appear, Jason Carroll found one and passed to a supporting Dave Hopkinson, who in turn passed to Joe Fee - who caught it first time without juggling it - and popped over the try. Shed missed the conversion.

Ossett were now tiring and from a midfield break again by Jason Carroll, he sped towards the line and with the fullback to beat and a supporting Joe Fee in attendance again, he sold a fantastic dummy ( I know what my money was on) and scored between the posts. Shed added the 2 points.

With 5 minutes to go, John Stead was called to get ready but it took him 2 minutes to get all his layers off so he got on for the last 3 minutes, did not touch the ball or get dirty! Rick Kingham was asked by Harry but politely declined the invitation as he was nice and warm.

The final whistle went with the Beavers winning by 33 points to nil. This was a good win against a niggling Ossett side and blustery weather conditions.

The Beavers jumped back into the cars to the changing rooms where the showers only just worked. After a tea of mince pie and dayglo green mushy peas, the Beavers returned to the Brods for post match snakers and Beaver of the Day nominations.

There were two nominations this week: -

1. Tag for his for two touches in the game and one for his second touch one of the worst kicks and tumble seen for a long time.

2. CJ for his " I don't mind being punched but not bitten" outburst to the referee who told him to shut up.

The winner was CJ as Tag sneaked away on the pretence of going out for a meal but your turn will come.

The first jug was for Phil Horton's birthday, the second was for Phil Bailey for his more than 10 appearances T shirt award - well done Phil, and the third was John Stead's debut jug - an expensive 3 minutes playing time.

Harry was again being the market trader selling the new polo shirts, which look very good indeed, and if you did not get one this week then more are on order for next week. One final question, how much did you pay for your polo shirt Mossy, £2.50 or £7.50!!

NB from Kett

Speaking in my capacity as a member of the Vets Tour Selection Committee it was heartening to see 15 tourists down at Ossett. Only 10 played in the blustery conditions with Ric, Jamie,& H resting, and Dazza & me just conditioning ourselves for Barcelona. With Peanuts and Tag at scrum half Ric is contemplating a nice holiday in a fortnight. With Joe Fee back in form at Hooker its just at prop we are a bit light unless Ship makes the trip from France. Good to see Deccers back in the fray and Steady making a cameo appearance.