Veterans Challenge

Smillie XV 43pts, Duffy XV 43

WITH the 3rds game off it gave all the veterans a chance to play in the Duffy & Smillie Birthday game.

The teams were split based on month they were born and it seemed on paper that all the good players were born in the latter half of the year, leaving Smillie with a rag tag team of geriatrics but a few were to prove they still had a spring in their step.

Smillies took control of the game and with a good combination of forward and back play they were soon probing the Duffy 22.

Play continued to be tight but Jason Hole threw a long ball to Paul Wright who marched down the pitch brushing off tacklers before popping the ball out to Nathan Clapp who went over for the try.

Kev George restarted and Mike Berry released the ball to Chris Bond who belly flopped over the line to take the score to 10-5 to the Smillie XV at the break.

On the restart, Duffy XV retained the early ball and 60-year-old Mick Duffy crossed the line for a score.

A high tackle then led to a penalty which was taken quickly by Ian Findlay allowing Keith Milton to crash over the line.

Further tries from Luke Chant, Mark Armstrong, Stuart Sugar and Steve Larcombe kept the game level and there were more points from Graham Glenn, Snapper, Mark Cornelius and Mike Summers among others.

With the clock out of time the ref awarded a penalty to the Duffy XV in front of the posts to tie the game and the kick was skilfully drilled over to make the final score 43 apiece and bring an end to a very entertaining encounter.