The Occasionals triumph in Cas Vegas

The Leos Occasionals visit Cas Vegas.

The Occasionals, sometimes known as the 3s, landed in Castleford with 15 players thanks to some strong captaincy from Cranners.

Once again we were a mixture of 3s/4s who had elected to actually play rugby rather than find other things to do on a Sat afternoon.

Leos began well with solid forward drives from Poll,Pinder, Thommo and Cadgey setting up good quick ball for the most charming man at 9 to whip out to the backs. Said no 9 was a little quiet due to still being out at 3 am at Sandanista, you are a vet now Jamie ! early nights on a Fri required. Especially when your Sister and Mum are watching !

Poll was also a little bleary eyed as he had rolled in at 5 am !
Jason fed the backs well and quick simple hands and a good line from Edgar led to the 15 bashing his way over for an efficient try.

It was clear in the scrum that the monster front row of Cadgey, Cranners and Thommo had the edge and were winning nearly all the ball no matter whose put in it was. This led to good hands once more in the backs with Kenroy making very good ground and showing great strength, he stayed on his feet well and support arrived through Stuart, Cranners and GI.

The lineout was also proving effective with a catch and drive leading to an organised rolling maul, this in turn yielded a deserved try for either Poll or Cranners.

Having looked very comfortable the Occasionals lost the plot not for the first time this season. We stopped playing simple direct rugby, started to bicker and the wheels came off. Cas needed no second invitation and they got back in the game. This coincided with Cadgey tweaking a giant calf and limping out of the frey. We missed his organisation and leadership not to mention his ever decreasing weight.
Cas though a useful 10 and some awful Leos long passing got back in the game with a well taken try.

Halftime arrived and the message from Captain Cranners was to stop playing as individuals and go back to the rugby we had played in the first 15 mins when we had looked good. An example of the lack of teamwork that Leos were showing was amply demonstrated when people simply shouted down alternative points of view.

The second half was a mixture of some good rugby. We were now unopposed which gave Cas lots of ball every time Leos dropped a ball. Despite this from strong forward driving play led by Stuart and Poll, who had now nearly run his hangover off, Leos again crossed the line. Thommo ran a very strong angle and took the direct route crashing over under the posts. As he was congratulated he quipped “ well you didn’t really expect a sidestep did you ! “

The most charming man was also now a little more with it and from a good forward drive on halfway he took off down an empty blindside. Showing good gas he scored out wide to the delight of his cheering family.

In the middle of all this Bench Boy Middle Aged Racer Nail ( also known as Niall but for today BBMARN) shot a foul mouthed verbal volley at his centre partner for kicking the ball instead of passing it. The visibly shocked recipient returned in kind and promptly missed a tackle to let Cas score under the posts.

Despite the self destruct button being repeatedly pressed the Occasionals did manage to put Kenroy away for a blockbuster of a try as he swatted aside would be tacklers to score the try his all round game deserved.

Captain Cranners also crossed the whitewash and was only denied a second as he dropped the ball over the line thanks to a crunching cover tackle.

The most charming man nipped in for a second try to complete the scoring. Jason kicked a couple on conversions, the rest were missed by one of the centres.

The final score was 39-17 to Leos.

A memorable comment was made by The dreadlocked Stuart as Leos left the Cas clubhouse “ I am glad we are leaving as I am a little bit scared, and that is just of the women ! “

We retired to a delightful pub in Ledsham where our ever slimming giant prop Cadgey was gently ribbed about being fined £ 50 for his personalised number plate whilst away in Scotland.

With the season fast running out Captain Cranners has asked that we make every effort to try and recruit some new players.

That said a few of the old players would help too, so Liam Norman Adams and wife Rich Crompton if you are out there come and play some rugby.

The simple truth boys is that if we don’t increase numbers we are fast heading to being a 3 team club.

Man of the match was Kenroy .

Lovejoy.