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In atrocious conditions Oldfield fought like dogs, after losing props Hick and Lloyd just before kick off - to that most mysterious of illnesses 'no showitus'
Against a strong Walcot outfit, skippered by Chalkie Wardle, Murph's men were slow out of the blocks and conceded an early try, in large part due to some extraordinarily dubious refereeing decisions. Bunti worked as hard as he could to upset the referee and eventually got his just deserts as the red mist descended and the referee sent him for a walk to the sin bin. As he trudged off he was clearly in shock that someone other than Rocky had got carded. Oldfield fought hard though to hold on to just a 7 point deficit at half-time, in a first half that was largely dominated by Walcot. In the second half the whistle blew less quickly and the result was that Oldfield started to play some great, controlled rugby and gained a stranglehold on the match. In the atrocious conditions and playing into the wind it proved difficult to maintain hard won territory, but time and again Oldfield worked their way up into the final third of the field. A loose Oldfield pass in midfield was cruelly intercepted by the Walcot 13, who went the length of the field to set up a try under the posts, that was completely against the run of play - for a barely deserved 14-0 lead. Oldfield took it on the chin and battled back manfully. Andy Taylor showed just what he can do when he took on and beat the Walcot winger and cover defence, only to be stopped in the corner by 57 year old full back, Wardle. Pressure mounted and as the ball went wide, young Billy in the centre took a tackle, offloaded and this time found his man, fly-half Jack Burns whose looping run saw him go in for a great try in the corner, making the score 14-5. In the final 10 minutes Oldfield's pack became dominant and Murph, Chalkie and Kev Escott made hard yards as Oldfield camped in the Walcot 22. As the pack turned the screw and were on the edge of a pushover try Walcot infringed and the referee gave penalty try, just as Bunti scooped up the loose ball and crashed over (robbery, but Bunti was grateful that the conversion was under the sticks as a result!!) so the score, with 4 1/2 minutes to go was 14-12 to Walcot. From the kick off Oldfield again worked upfield and the final few minutes saw Walcot clinging on and just about stumbling accross the finishing line. All in all a great effort from an Oldfield side who genuinely deserved to shade what had been an epic battle, in horrendous conditions - well done lads.......if only we had started as we finished. Tries: Burns, Penalty Try Conversion: Bunti |