Bexley go down fighting (not literally mind)!

Another tough day at the office as Bexley still try and find their feet in Kent 1.

A beautiful autumn day saw a large crowd to watch Bexley's third Kent 1 match of the season; swelled by a large travelling support from Vigo. I think I am going to have to stop speaking about Bexely's youthful first team having noticed Neil Davis and Sir Pete Nottage in the starting 15 though. What with Andy 'He Man' Moon playing for the 2s, and Howard putting down his chosen reading material (an original Bayeux Tapestry personally handed to him by William the Conqueror) to come and cheer us on, we are the oldest swingers in town.

The match got off to the worst start possible for Bex, Good hands enabling the Vigo winger to touch down in the left hand corner in the opening couple of minutes. There was an element of doubt about this first try, most observers reckoning a foot touched the touch line. Those observers did not count the ref or the touchie though, whose are the observances that count.

Bex looked to try and hit straight back. Good pressure, and great ruck work by Bryce Redmill resulted in two penalty chances for Jack Mills, one of them being converted. Bexley continued the pressure, but silly mistakes and poor handling kept letting Vigo off the hook. 'Scary' Jim Smith got a bit to scary, and was penalised for pushing a potential catcher. Bex then failed to deal with a lovely kick properly, very good hands enabling Vigo to take the a 12-3 lead. Once again, Bexley had the ball and marched forwards menacingly, only for Jim Moore to knock on. The Vigo fall back scooped up the ball and scored a stunning individual try going virtually the whole length of the filed.

It was an odd first half, Bexley seemingly being in charge of the ball and territory, Vigo definitely being in charge of the scoreboard. So much so they obtained their try bonus point by the 35th minute. A combination of bad Bexley ball skills, and ruthless pacy Vigo backs really being our undoing here. A lovely offload by Bryce, though did enable Jake Voce to keep in touch at the break at 26-10.

It was during the first half though, that that corpulent bloke who comes every week; gives the team directions; and who decides on the subs was foolishly heard to give the ref some advice; what a tool! Thankfully there was someone there to put this knowlessman in his place. "When you've played for as long as I have, at the level I have you get to know what's what". Suitably chastised, I bet that Gerry or whatever his name is wished he actually played the game at some point, rather that turn up and shout ineffectually at the blue and white hoops! But every cloud and all that, it was the first time that a women under the age of 30 has talked to Gerry sober, non drugged and voluntarily for many a year now; so not all bad!

The second half went pretty much the same as the first half. Bexley exerting pressure, but handing the initiative back to a clinical Vigo. They scored two further tries through a combination of poor Bexley tackling and great Vigo handling. Our play was summed up by a couple of passages of play. Jim Moore and Pete Nottage knocking on in quick succession. Can you believe Jim used to be a centre - no me neither. It was as if he had had his hands put on by Futurama's Dr Zoidberg. His Zoidberg transplanted hands seemingly ensuring his hand off is still brutally effective though. A lovely dink by Charlie Sandison, ruined by what I believe the technical term is 'shite handling'.

However, Bex pressure was rewarded by two tries. Good line out work resulting in a try for Scary Jim, showing good strength to finish. Jim Moore also crossed the white wash after some sustained forward pressure in the closing minutes.

I do not wish to paint a picture of doom and gloom. Bexley were in the game all the way through. Vigo were ruthless in their punishment of any Bexley error, and made the most of visits to Bexley territory every time they visited it. But Bexley were in command of the ball for much of the game; showing that they can definitely live at this level. Bryce, Jake and Joe Fernyhough proved more than a handful in the midfield, just needing to try and get the ball to support when able.The performance of Scary Jim certainly meant that Vigo knew they were in a game. Cutting out unforced errors will mean that a win will come sooner rather than later.