A quieter week on the politics front; the threat of rockets being thrown around in the Middle East seems to have abated somewhat and some of the royals are playing up, but apart from that, not much on at the moment.

Bit of a gut-wrencher down at Tonsville last Saturday. As I eluded to last week, it was always going to be a tough fixture and I didn't really think we stood a chance seeing's we got a spanking down at theirs.

When they turned up with a team of rather large players, many of whom were struggling to get their arms by their sides, I was even less hopeful.

But, what a performance from the boys! They should have won, but seven minutes into injury time, the Camels scored a try and then with the conversion going over and the whistle going, it was frankly 'heart-breaking' and we lost 25-26.

The boys were out on their feet but, it was a great performance and that has to be the positive from the game and whilst they may have been gutted, they played their part in a great game of rugger.

Why is it when your down, your luck is as well? That's two games we've lost from the jaws of victory!

On to more positive things, the Otters beat the Engineering students for the first time in years and they did it the hard way coming from 15 points down.

So there's got to be a 'hurrah' to Birdies boys for that.

The Juniors were back in action and pick of the games goes to the Warriors who are our under 14's.

They came out on top in a back and forth game, beating Wellington 39-28.

I forgot to mention it last week, but the club held to recruit/open day to try and encourage more youngsters to the mini section.

Tom Hatten reported that it was a great success and as a result we got several more youngsters involved, which is great!

We had our commercial meeting this week, which was a worthwhile chat. However, it always comes back to the fact that, if we want to grow, we need more spondoolicks and more volunteers to help - especial in the Junior section.

On that note, here's another plug for Sunday's parents meeting. We are basically trying to hold an awareness session to explain how the club functions and to give everyone the chance to ask questions etc.

Can I ask you to encourage all parents to make every effort to attend. It's at 1.30pm at the club. The bar will be open!

Helen from the Honiton Sports shop is also coming down on Sunday with her 'pop up' shop to sell club merchandise and goodies. So, if you need some socks or gear she's your man, as they say!

On top of the above, we do have a busy Sunday at home playing wise as well. We have the 7's and 8's on the bottom pitch.

The 9's and 10's are up on the top and then the 12's 'n 13's play a bit later on.

This means the 11's are the away side. We also have our junior kit sponsors coming down to officially present the kit and as always we are indebted to their philanthropic involvement, as it all goes to keeping community rugby affordable and looking smart.

A big thanks to all four of them. We have Bests of Honiton, Red homes Estate agents, Synergy Vets and Ernest Consultancy and between them they have kitted out all our junior teams, so big hurrah to them for their continued support!

I also had my first chin-wag with our new Junior fixtures Sec, Emma Gray, only to discover we are actually getting a '2 for 1' deal, as it's to be a hubby and wife team!

So welcome to Luke as well.

Emma has volunteered Luke for the early Sunday morning work, apparently he's delighted by this!

At this point, I must say such a big thanks to my chum Paula, who has done the job for us for many a year as you all know and despite moving away from the area, she's also held the fort whilst we tried to get a replacement institute, which is even more amazing because on joining her new local club, she volunteered to do their fixtures job as well.

Little did they know they were getting the guru to fixtures! "ers mad" as they say in Debon!

Anyway, she can now finally sign off from us in style, with a big thanks from the Ton massif, who are indebted to her support over the years, especial this last one!

As many of you know, she works for the Met Office so I will miss blaming her for not sorting the weather out! Big boots to fill, but my chat with Emma filled me with mucho confidence, as she seems very much on the ball!

Just hope we don't overload her/them! As a dentist, I know Emma is a busy person. Mind, I like the phrase; 'you want something done? Ask a busy person!' and feel this applies in this case.

Let's give them all the support they need. Think I'll refer to them as 'Emmaluke' from now on!

On Saturday, the Ones have a real toughie this weekend, as they go over the hill to play promotion favourites Wellington, who just so happen to be top of the pile at the moment as well!

So, with nought to lose I say, let's go over there, get amongst them and enjoy playing rugby.

Geed up by last week's win, the Otters are also on the road over at South Moulton for their Saturday league fixture.