By Gavin Hooper
May 2 2006

The second annual match between Bristol Rugby and Bath Rugby supporters in honour of Tim Morris (AKA: Moz)and his chosen charity of MSF The match proved to be another entertaining contest, with the Bristol team running out comfortable winners to retain the trophy that they had won at The Rec the previous year. Bristol coaches Oly Kohn, Marko Stanojevic and limping Sean Marsden now hold an impressive record of played 2, won 2, points for 140’ish, points against: 25. Andy Robinson watch out….

The Bristol players had enjoyed four training sessions prior to the match, and with Dean Jones and skipper Oly Gaudion superbly organising a sizeable squad, the team were able to watch the whole of the staggering defeat to Northampton Saints – even the ghastly last 10 minutes – before congregating with some excitement at the top of the ramp. It had been a healthy crowd, and many decided to stick around, lured by the promise of some classic amateur rugby, and the secondary factor of open bars with a Bank Holiday Monday to come

Getting out on to the pitch for the first time, the width of the surface and the height of the stands stood out. We enjoyed a warm up with our very own ‘Mr Motivator’ Tim Thorne, before a quick touch of a practice ball and a few last words of encouragement were brought to a halt by the realisation that we were just minutes away from kicking off. We quickly assembled in the player’s tunnel and exchanged best wishes with the Bath boys, before running out to a blast of cheers from the crowd who had remained. With club announcer Richard the Slick as one of our number, the crowd had been whipped to a frenzy

The excellent Ashley Rowden had volunteered to referee, and with his whistle, the match was under way with a truly dreadful kick off from yours truly. Still, I hadn’t played since the corresponding match the year before, so I hoped that things would get better as the game progressed. Thankfully for both team and me personally, it did.

The match again uncannily echoed the perceived styles of each club’s first team, with Bristol looking to run the ball through their nimble backs whilst Bath pounded away around the fringes via their sizeable pack.

Bath started well, powering their large back row around the fringes and forcing the Bristol defence onto a well marshalled back foot. When we did get the ball following a Bath knock on, we were able to run a Marsden/Stanovejic move in the backs that saw young winger Simon Mortimer link with full back Rob Weaver to offer Oli Pool a clear run to the line for the game’s first try, greeted by a huge cheer from the stands. From then on, the Bristol backs clicked and strong first phase running and superb awareness from centres Jon Bogan and Lyndon Davies created a disjointed Bath defence, and with clinical control of any loose ball from the back row of Jack Sheppard, Tim Thorne and Steve Ireland, scrum half Murray ‘Oh Ref!’ Bishop frequently released the Bristol backs.

Just as with the previous year, it is impossible to recount who scored what, but Pool definitely finished with a man of the match 4 tries, with further Bristol tries for Weaver, Mortimer, Neil Davies, Ali McClement and Simon Williams. There were others as the score can testify, with myself and Mortimer kicking a few conversions, and Bath scored a couple of excellent forward orientated tries to keep the scoreline respectable. Referee Rowden was excellent throughout and kept the game flowing as much as mistakes allowed, and awarded Bath an entirely deserved penalty try in the face of incessant infringement from George Campbell in particular. The scything conversion that followed I gather, fulfilled a significant sponsorship requirement for a Bath player, and as the Bristol boys willed it over, we were all reminded of why we were playing.

Just as in the previous year, the match was good spirited with the occasional touch of brilliance from individuals on both sides. Sadly, Bath’s stocky centre – the one who does resemble a ‘weeble’ despite his protestations in the bar afterwards – did not feature long enough to defy the laws of physics, but everyone concerned contributed to a fantastic afternoon, and hopefully a bucketload of cash for Moz’s chosen charity of MSF. Massive gratitude to Bath supporters, to referee Rowden and his touch judges, to those who stayed to watch and those who came specifically, to Bristol Rugby for allowing us to play out some of our dreams at the Memorial Ground and to our coaches, and above all Dean Jones and Oly Gaudion for organising a second winning Bristol supporters team. Contributions still welcome through www.justgiving.com/mmm2.

Bristol: D. Jones/R. Kingscott/ M. Dawnay/ O Gaudion (Capt)/ S. Debley/ J. Sheppard/ T. Thorne/ S. Ireland/ M. Bishop/ G. Hooper/ O. Pool/ J. Bogan/ L. Davies/ S. Mortimer/ R. Weaver.
Replacements: J Whittle/ O.Faz/ C. Whale/ G. Campbell/ S. Moore/ L. Collins/ R. Stuart/ A. McClement/ Humpo/ D. Revell/ R. Pitt/ S. Williams/ G. Marshall/ N. Davies/ A Millard.