Woz On at Honiton RFC - Season preparations almost complete

Woz on, well firstly I have to eat humble pie. Having been a tad rude about the Welsh for not topping the world rankings last week I'm forced to unfortunately congratulate them on doing so this week!

I'm also unhappy to say it was done with a narrow defeat of my team which just rubs salt in the wound. Maybe it was the playing at home factor but whatever the Welsh boys looked much sharper this week and were "quicker of thought".

It was still a close game but we were a shadow of ourselves from the week before and gave away too many penalties. Small margins at that level make the difference and the old adage of "you are only as good as your next game" rings true. Hey ho, Paddies and Italians to go before we set off to the land of the rising sun.

The Ashes test series is warming up nicely I'm liking the new tactic, "if you can't get their best batsman out normally, adopt a try and kill him approach".

When I played some reasonable cricket we didn't have helmets at all, they are all soft!

Actually I'm only joking, going out to bat with just a small piece of wood to defend yourself against some fella throwing a missile at your head at 94 miles an hour has always seemed a bit odd to me and now a days I wouldn't go out there at all and if there was no choice but to go out, I'd make sure I had on every guard possible, bit like the 'tin man'.

I'm steering clear of Brexit comments and politics at the moment and like the rest of you, I'll just have to put up with what happens.

Back to Ton issues, I'm pleased to say we played a game of rugby on Friday night and as one of our warm up games before the season starts, we made it tough for ourselves by picking an opposition that play their rugby in the South West 1 league, which is one above the one we are moving into!

We had a few players missing and having taken the youthful Stopper, Gordon and Canniford up to watch, there was a feeling of foreboding from us all and we felt we were going to get a "thumping".

Chuck in the hideous weather conditions that made it more like a November evening rather than an August one and all round, it was a tough proposition, mind, at least the ground was soft!

Well what a revelation! Despite having a small squad and being a lot lighter than them, our boys put in a great shift and for 70 minutes of the game we were actually in front and it was only a "last play" try by them that prevented the draw and I'll bet they were mightily relieved to have won come the final whistle. I imagine they will be shouted at in their training sessions this week!

The final score was 24-19 but we defended well and looked dangerous in attack and I think we shocked them a bit with our intent and the fact we didn't sit back and actually took the game to them was great to see.

I'm sure Charlie and Brendon were pleased with the efforts on show. Our downfall was, we ran out of players as we did get a couple of knocks to key players and as it was a trial game, they were taken off rather than risk it and we were a bit lightweight in the scrums which told in the end.

Thing is we have some great players now but the question is, with a small squad will we be able to cope with the rigours of a much tougher season? Of course we will I say!

Don't forget we have another trial game on the 31st away to North Tawton, put it in your diary and pop over.

At Tonsville central, some great news, my Chum Gordon has finished off the shower panelling and it's looking pucker, he had to do some thinking with this job but a job well done nonetheless.

I'm also informed he press-ganged Lorna into helping him as well so big thanks to her as well.

Gordon, Stopper and Will Tyers have beavered away with the bar project and all bar a bit of shelving to go out back, it's done. Big hand to all who helped with "part three" and I can't help feeling a tad proud of the fact we've transformed the old girl with the three parts of the project and we've done it all by ourselves.

Of course it's cost in terms of materials and we are now very poor but nowhere near as much as we would have been, if we hadn't had some great local companies help us and of course, a huge amount of unpaid work has been a real asset. Pat yourself on the back if you've helped in any way, "you done well" as they say.

Our rubbish Wifi has also been sorted out by Stopper's ex-BT mate Dave Sheppard, so big hand to him. Dave, Stopper and Gordon have also got rid of those random wires hanging out of the walls which is good and it's all up and working and on top of that, both have been tinkering with other jobs.

Just a thought, if you know anyone who is looking for a venue during the week for a meeting, conference or party etc, I think we can say it's now a half decent place to rent out, let us know.

Now we're gearing up for the season big time, our first game is against St Austell on the 7th Sept.

We had a committee meeting on Tuesday night and realised we still have lots to do before the first game. A lot of it is now just tweaking and obviously we will be ticking along, doing things each day but if you can come down on the Thursday 5th after work we are having a working party to get us ship shape for the first game.

We've also got a project re-covering some of the chairs, a dextrous job me thinks and there are lots of them to do. Can you help?

Regarding the actual game, we are doing a lunch on that day for ex-players. It's a first come first served situation, it's £15 a head and if you would like a place can you ring Ally to book in, her number is 07817739545, we'd love to see you.

We're still struggling with catering volunteers and bar staff so if you know anyone who's a bit bored and needs to get out and socialise a bit let them know, it's a great atmosphere and we'll welcome you/them with open arms. We'll buy you a drink and generally welcome you to our merry band of volunteers.

Think that's about it, haven't said it for a while but don't forget we're always looking for new sponsors, benefactors, volunteers and bargains, please keep one's eyes peeled. Also have a look on the website there's a lot of club info on there as well, I'd give you the email address but it's just as easy to "google" Honiton RFC and it will come up.

#UTT