* Broken in active service on the field of play 

Bloody Purple  !! 

Why did I declare a theme in honour of that stupid, fat purple, industrial blind fitter!!!!???? He, of course, didn't even turn up...he had apparently fallen off a ladder whilst working on a job in Cornwall...and damaged his already irreparable knee..

All started well at The Civil Service Sports Ground....it was windy and wet....Quintin II had a full front row, which didn't include that Talentfree prat.....we had subs...we had a referee of sorts (Guyver)..we also had Gordon, if things got really desperate on the officiating front..we had Sammy, who had spurned his fellow Kiwi's leaving do in Cardiff for the Quintin shilling (in fact, he couldn't afford the train fare to the Welsh slum!!).... we had the return of the Mighty Rushton....and the long awaited and unannounced return of the Gargantuan that is Giles!

But as you may have guessed from my earlier missives, nothing ever remains as expected when playing for The Quintin professional side: Robbo The Squaddie, who was due to play for the 1s, smsed that he had just got out of bed and wasn't going to make it..so we lost Sammy to the 1s....Guyver also smsed that he had pulled his left tit whilst playing Touch Rugby and that he was doubtful to play but could still officiate..how kind! However, I didn't care as I was wearing my subsuit and flatcap...had plenty of snuff..and was preparing for a fine sideline performance, which is one of my specialities...well, at least, its best if I'm not on the field....

So we had a minimal warmup....Mc Ian was elected on-field captain..we practised some line-outs joined up with backs via the new scrum-half Miles..which generally worked well...

We kicked-off and immediately conceded a try....to their captain, I think....our backs were proving very leaky in defence..mainly because we had a scratch side....

At the first scrum,  it became obvious that we weren't going to win those either....with Lee struggling against an old dog of war ..and Ian similarly having a hard time...Rushton later admitted to being lifted off his little feet....

But, there was one ray of hope..the lineout....Rushton after getting the line of the horrible wind was picking off Todd at number 4 jumper excellently....could be our way of getting some play..well sadly not! We tried manfully but we still did not score..then disaster struck...Lee C had a back spasm and had to go off...horror of all horrors...Talentfree had to join the front row....he tried to upset the opposition tight-head and succeeded..with the help of the Robo-Ref who swore at the tighthead! Penalty conceded...Talentfree had his way..in the short term but would regret it in the long term....

Half-time approached....both Miles and Rob were now broken....so we brought on Secret Agent Andrews..or Giles to his comrades....and the versatile Frenchman, Alex.......shuffled the backs...Coxie to 10...Howard to 9....Kev to 12...Giles to 13...the new look was formed...

......to no discernible improvement...we conceded yet more tries...and yet more conversions, which were miraculous on such a wet and wild day....Giles made some fantastic runs....Mattie worked tirelessly against constant overlaps....Joe, Todd and Dylan tackled their bodies into the ground...aided by Scott, Mc Ian, Judge Dredd and Chris H....Nick collected the high ball well....Gordon pole-axed the opposition number 4... 

But after all of this...and some niggly, nasty play especially from the opposition number 4....we did not give up and carried on fighting for some consolation points until the end..