Sunday the 12th January saw the dusting off of boots and testing to see if sportswear that fitted prior to Christmas could still be worn in a public place; aka Round 3 of the Regional Development Series for the Turbo Chargers.
The only exception to this being Nubs, who had purchased some new leggings from the ladies section of Primark (don’t worry Nubs, your secret’s safe….)
The days earlier downpours cleared and the temp rose to a balmy 6°. The creaking of joints moving for the first time since mid-December could be heard as the warm-up commenced. The Turbos fielded an eclectic mix of players with our gun youngsters in Sam, Cooper and Luis at one end of the scale and Paul ‘the second-best player in his family’ Rio at the other. The rest of the squad was made up of the Dream Team of Lol, Sammy, Courtney, Becky, James, Nubs, Pete, Tom, Jordan and Harry.
The Turbo’s got off to a good start by defeating a well drilled Orrell side 3 – 1. With some great driving from Harry and Nubs getting us in good position for our line attacks, it is likely that Turbo Tom scored a few of the tries for the Chargers. However, in in an effort to be involved in as many tries as possible, he admitted to being at fault for the opposition’s score as well.
We then fronted up to a team of talented and speedy players in MMU, who in time will gel in to a difficult to beat unit. However, some committed defence and clinical line attack saw the Turbo’s record another 3 – 1 win. It is likely that again Tom scored a few of the tries as he mentioned at the Monday night training session he thought he scored ‘about 16’ on the day. All the more remarkable as the team total was 14.
With confidence high, and likelihood of another top of the pool finish beckoning, the team were handed a harsh lesson. The Cubs of Chester, with outstanding driving and simple yet effective touch saw off the complacent and somewhat lethargic Turbos by a score of 3 – 2. What is certain in this match however is ‘Lightning’* Paul Rio did manage a score in the corner. Only an assist with the final pass for Tom this time. *so called Lightning because his passes never hit the same place twice.
Despite the defeat, some encouraging post-match words from skipper Jordan got us in the right frame of mind for the looming showdown against the Super Chargers. In what turned out to be a tight and intense match, the seasoned pros in Courtney, Sammy, Pete, Jordan, Harry and James ran the show in the mids / links, and Becky and Lol defended the flanks admirably. It finished 2 apiece at the final whistle. If only that were the end of it, but alas, being a semi-final, a drop off was required. Unfortunately, the Turbos didn’t take advantage of the first possession and a try was scored on the next set by the Supers.
The defeat saw the Turbos drop down to the plate final, and a big effort was required to get our heads in the right place for the rematch against the Cubs. And get our heads in the right place we did. Some great play in the mids saw scores in by Pete and Tom (probably his 16th for the day) come out of nothing, and the youngsters in Sam, Cooper and Luis, corralled by the vocal Nubs, defended the middle of the pitch admirably. The score could have been higher if not for Harry keeping his hands warm by submerging them in melted butter before the match! The score finished 4 -2 to the TCs in what was out best performance of the day.
Throughout the day, the encouragement and support from the more experienced players was outstanding, quote from Mrs Bainbridge "Cooper is absolutely loving life as a Charger"
and it was a great effort by all. Our heads could have easily dropped after the pool defeat. However, it was the catalyst for our 2 best performances of the day and left everyone wanting to carry on playing a few more games. Well almost everyone…
Teamsheet
Becky Ashton Cooper Bainbridge Courtney Horrocks Harry Armitage James Simons Jordan Crosse Lauren Hillson Nubli Mustapa Paul Riordan Peter Bowyer Sammy Kiernan Samuel Thorpe Tom Overbury
Roll of Honour
Female MVP
Sammy Kiernan
Male MVP
James Simons
Most Improved
Lauren Hillson