ALTON U14s OSPREYLIA TOUR

REPORT ONE OF THREE

There was a real party atmosphere at the clubhouse when we gathered to depart for our tour. An entire visiting squad dressed as Elvis unloaded from their bus to the strains of "A Little Less Conversation" as the club prepared for the senior's last home game of the season and the traditional Red-bellies lunch.

Our party looked resplendent in their hats of the world and tour Nike hoodies, and a few tears were wiped from the corners of damp eyes as we boarded the bus - some of the Mums were upset too! There were fewer than normal Dads on this tour and we had to remove one or two who were trying to stow away in the baggage compartment, they were returned to wives who had long lists of painting and decorating chores for them once they got home.

The bus left fortress Anstey and iPods were cranked up to block out the drone from Greg's CD player. The wheels on the bus went round and round for at least 30 minutes before the traffic jam at Reading, progress was almost back on schedule until a loud squeal was heard just as we approached the junction of the M4 and M32 outside Bristol. This turned out to be a wheel bearing problem which took hours and hours and hours to resolve ... in the meantime we had some tag rugby in a field and a little horse play, before Ady found the iPhone application for "where's the nearest pub?" Adults were soon downing cider with the locals as the boys burned off their excess energy in the garden. Their footwork was tested as they dodged the Alsatian droppings (bloody big Alsation too!) We then found another pub 400 yards away (sans Alsatian crap) doing 2 meals for the price of one, and so we settled down for dinner - sausage and chips, the first of many sausage and chip meals this week as it turned out!

The replacement bus duly arrived with most of our baggage and the longest day was soon to end as we rolled into Trecco, about 9 hours later than planned but all present and correct! Not the greatest way to kick off the tour, everyone was exhausted and some didn't bother to make up their beds, simply crashing out on the nearest mattress.

Sunday morning broke to glorious Welsh sunshine, some of us took a stroll on the beach and the entire squad arrived promptly at 09:00 for their first Trecco brekkie. Sausages, bacon, eggs, beans and tomatoes were discarded as the lads went for the healthy muesli option - oh yeah! Off we went to Pencoed for our first game, just 20 minutes down the road, or 45 minutes and 2 breakdowns as rescheduled by Greg's coaches! Ady found an iPhone application for rescheduling bus journeys and locating strange sounding Welsh rugby clubhouses.

The match was played on a hard pitch and in blazing sunshine, very typical of Wales we discovered. It was evenly contested, played hard and fair and was really enjoyable to watch. James "Granite" Airey picked up a dislocated elbow (it turned out after an x-ray a few days later) but not before he had rejoined the game and stuck in a few more tackles. All tourists played at least a half, except Joe Gwyther who was on county duty, Richard Blizzard who was carrying a knee injury and Stan Burrows wanted to rest this one out. Charlie Hibbert was back to his brilliant best with a hat-trick of tries but the feature of the game was the way the forwards faced up to the aggressive Pencoed pick and drive and put in some sterling defensive work in the final 10 minutes. Shane and Chad had the pleasure of playing a half each for the home side as they were short of a winger, they were nearly short of a flanker too until one lad returned from the golf course just as we kicked off. Cameron was looking forward to spending the whole game offside playing for Pencoed in his Alton shirt ...

Reception at the Pencoed clubhouse was really friendly - it's a little-known fact that everyone in Pencoed has a name beginning with G - either Gethin, Gareth, Geraint, Geronwy or Goodgrief Jones!  Our head coach Dave became Dai for the duration and answered most questions with "Thanks Geraint, I'll have a Guinness!" We all admired the jerseys on the walls from former players like Gareth Cooper, Gareth "Alfie" Thomas and Gavin Henson. We tucked into more sausage and chips and the coaches of both teams vowed to arrange a return fixture in Hampshire next season. Many friends were made in the true spirit of touring, though there was talk of withdrawing our award to Pencoed's man of the match when he turned up with highlighted hair and a pink shirt! Gav's obviously left his mark here! All in all, a great club and a superb day.

Final score Pencoed 34-27 Alton

Alton points:-

Tries - Charlie Hibbert (3), Charlie Rands, Ed Simmons

Conversion - Ed Simmons

The tourists returned to Trecco for some relaxation and awaited the arrival on tour of the Gwythers. Nothing eventful happened at all, nothing further to report about Sunday, everyone behaved themselves ... oh yeah!