A Special Day in Upton

Driving from Pershore to Upton the sight of the snow-capped Malverns, magnificent in the distant sunshine, instantly lifted one’s mood and minds drifted to the sweet aroma of Gluhwein, cheese with holes and 3 sided chocolate. Something special in the air today, and so it proved.

Pitch Dimensions: 60m x 43m
Grass Height: 2cm (where present)
Going : Soft
Distance from ERFC : 16 miles
Air Temp : 1 Degree C (I know, right)
Wind : Mostly Tim
Players : 19
CCR (Coaches Coffee Run): Justin 'Bov' Wycherley, proper mugs too !!
PMR (Post Match Refreshment): Sausage and Chips
RAS (Real Ale Selection): Doom Bar
BDM (Best Dressed Mum) : Noticeably less effort on a Sunday since Mo stopped coming down, not sure what that tells us, however this week’s winner of Best Dressed Mum was the carefully colour co-ordinated Nursie in jeans, green jacket, green boots and a ‘lama farmer hat’.

Game 1 – Blues v Upton A

1-JSD 2-Cake 3-Geordi, 9-Max, 10-Tom ‘Slate’ (Welsh Stone) Stone, 11-Hamish, 12-‘Turbo’ Tommy Westby, 13-Bretty, 14-Slippery, 15- Big Tom Merrall. Ten a side to keep everyone moving.

Upton kicked off and intercepted a pass to score a try in the first 3 minutes – hmm. Determined running from Cake off the back of 6 phases of play, everyone involved, got a try back for Blues but constant pressure from Upton plus pace and an interception, saw them touch down twice more to close the half 3:1. Blues were rucking and tackling well so instructions for the second half were stick to the plan.

Strong running from Slippery to Bretty to Turbo saw Evesham close to the Upton line, Max picked up a loose ball and headed for the right corner, offloaded to Slippery who finished it off in usual style. An Upton scrum 5m from their line, Evesham advantage from a knock forward saw Turbo gather a loose ball to touch down. A strong run up the left wing by Hamish from the kick off, Turbo recycled, offload to JSD who ran and span his way up 1/3 of the pitch to touch down, 3:4 at full time. Cracking game from both teams.

Game 2 – Maroons v Upton Dev

1-George 2-Joel 3-Olly Neal, 9-Aimee, 10-Josh, 11-Will ‘Mighty’ Mullen, 12-James, 13-Indie, 14-Matt ‘Ears’ Pearce

Strong running from Joel, and an eye for the line, saw him over for Maroons first early on. Joel and Ears then provided forward motion before the ball was ripped by Upton but gathered by Indie to run directly for the line from the half way mark for Maroons second. Upton scored one in return to keep things interesting. An Evesham scrum well in their own half saw Aimee pass to James who’s jet boots took him down the right wing past all challengers for a try,

And then the magic happened, the moment we have all been waiting for. Will (Mighty) Mullen, known for his ever present smile and mischievous approach to even the simplest things, has not missed a session since he could crawl, yet that first try has proved elusive. Today, in the shadow of the Church of St Peter and Paul, lovely couple, and with a video camera in attendance for the first time it was Mighty’s time to shine. A strong run from Olly Neal, good rucking from Aimee and James, ball fed out by Indie to Will ‘Mighty’ Mullen arriving from the right wing and running a beautiful diagonal line to the left corner which beat 4 defenders for his first try, ever.

Don’t take my word for it http://youtu.be/kpQfq75aqsE Watch the right side to see how far Mighty travelled to take his chance.

Second half saw Olly Neal growing into his frame with 2 tries from direct powerful runs at either end of the half, I overheard one of the Upton coaches comment after his lads failed to stop Olly the second time that he wouldn’t stop him either. Indie got his second and James’ pace got the better of the Upton defence once more. Special mention for Aimee who seemed to be everywhere today, putting in a real shift in attack and defence.

1-8 an unflattering score that did not tell the tale of the game as Upton stuck to the task well.

Game 3 – Blue v Upton A

Getting cold, a brief 10 min run out saw Upton score first, again, then Bretty cross the line after a tidy run, Slate – impressive in his debut at 10 today, cross the line for Evesham’s second. 1-2 and time for tea.

Game 4 – Maroon v Upton Dev

Really cold now, this 10 minute play saw Olly Neal get 2 more, no stopping him now, and James got another, Upton scored 4 in return. 4:3 a fair reflection this time.

Man of the Match: Strenuous endeavour from everyone today, in cold conditions, but there could only be one choice. Will ‘Mighty’ Mullen for patient determination spanning the years and a most well deserved try today, first of many.

Lost Property: Nothing, not so much as a glove or gum shield case out of place.