On the first day of December in the year of our Lord 2007, a Saturday to be precise, the courageous and spirited 4th XV gathered earlier than usual to make their way to Hope Valley, a little heard of club located high in the Peak District in the wilderness between Stockport and Sheffield. For some reason best known to themselves, the league organisers have placed this Derbyshire based side in the same league as ourselves!

However, please do not take this comment to be disparaging of the organisers – I for one am pleased with the inclusion of HV as they proved worthy adversaries and gave us a cracking fixture which took the travelling Tigers through a roller coaster of emotions from elation to desperation and sadly, I have to report, defeat.

The first moment of elation for SP was merely finding the clubhouse – apparently, a vast swathe of the 4th XV have the navigational skills of a bottle-nosed whale in the Thames! This is despite at least one player having new fangled satellite navigation equipment! Yours truly, accompanied by two of the under 19’s (Brad and Owen), had very little trouble locating this tucked away establishment although I admit that I did have some doubts that we would ever find it. Dan and Billy had taken the bold move of following me as the lead navigator and their faith was well placed. We found the clubhouse with plenty of time to spare and waited patiently for the rest of the team and the kit to arrive. Chaucer once wrote that patience is a high virtue. If this is true, we five are indeed virtuous!

The stragglers arrived with ten minutes to go before kick off to much cheering and ridicule from the waiting quintet. A quick change occurred, followed by an even quicker warm up on a pitch that was as bitterly cold as it was lopsided. The altitude of the area probably played a role in the penetrating cold and the wind certainly made itself felt. The pitch was visibly slanted both length-ways and across the breadth of the pitch and the Tigers quickly cottoned onto the fact that the game would be played in two very distinct halves; one half defending hard facing uphill and the other half all out attacking with the ground currying favour.

It emerged that the Hope Valley side only had 11 players and in the interest of a fair game and sportsmanlike conduct, we agreed to lend two players and play thirteen men per side. The two players loaned initially were Ben Tattersall and Dave, both strong players for the Tigers and equally strong adversaries. Our valiant captain, Mark Knight, met with the referee and the opposition captain for the obligatory coin toss and the game soon began with SP facing downhill.

A strong ten minutes of rugby followed with the forwards carrying ball well, giving the backs chance to show a turn of pace and skirt around the HV defence. Before long we had notched up our first points, the Tigers had broken down the right hand side of the pitch, the necessary pace being provided by the aforementioned U-19’s players and full-back Chris Drench and the try was scored and subsequently converted. This seven points soon became twelve as a line out (yes - I couldn’t believe it either – more proof that training does work!!) was taken well and the ball secured at the back of the maul and driven forward well, making acres of space into which our fleet-footed backs skipped and ran through and secured the try.

The points ticked up as we scored yet again and the majority of the first half was as anticipated, all out attack. There were some periods of the half that required some serious defensive play, and the boys stood strong for the most part, although some strong attacking work from HV, accompanied by some dubious refereeing, resulted in a try to the home side.

The half time whistle blew and the boys had a moment to compose themselves before beginning what was going to be a difficult half. The loan players swapped over with Ben and Dave rejoining the Tigers and Mark Knight and Steve Harrison (the Director of Elite Rugby donned his boots) pulling on the HV shirts.  From the kick-off, the Hope Valley boys gave their all and despite some ferocious defending from the Tigers, the points were soon clawed back as HV exploited the same benefits as those that favoured SP in the first half.

Nevertheless, all was not lost yet. Some fine forward play saw Ben Tattersall break through the Valley defence and score our only points of the half taking our tally to 22. However, before long, the Hope Valley forwards were again camped in the Tigers half with the Valley backs making decisive and calculated runs taking them ever-closer to the try line. More ferocious defence followed but hard attacking, coupled with the gradient of the pitch and some favourable decisions from the referee saw HV over the try-line and the game finished up 24-22 to Hope Valley. Full credit must go to their team and their No 8, a strong runner who managed to gain yards with every carry.

The SP boys fought hard throughout the second half and can be proud of their efforts.  It is testament to their efforts that the score remained as close as it did. The 4th XV have no game next week as a result of their cup exit some weeks previously. However, it is likely that we will be training on Saturday with a view to gaining further improvements in our game. If anyone wishes to feel the grass beneath their feet once more, please feel free to join in. We will also be training on Tuesday night starting at 19:30, again, the more the merrier.