A day legends were born! Many, many years from now, people will be talking about the time we went to Dudley. Great game, great result, great weather, great company, great performance, great "Inbetweeners" moment!

It's fair to say that the best team won, in our tightest ever game, but only just. The result was in jeopardy right up to the last kick of the game, as DK soaked up all the pressure. DK's defence was easily the best we have ever come up against, and Plans A, B, C and D were used before we finally broke though. Our defence, in fairness, was also excellent, and we were only undone by an unkind bounce of the ball to concede a try after 20 minutes, after being the much more attacking team.

The arrival of our 1st XV seemed to pep up the boys, and the enthralled crowd was treated to a fantastic try in the corner from the resurgent James Parry. No TMO necessary! 5-7 down at half-time, and everyone wondering how we had managed to be behind.

The game was tight, and we played our patterns well, but our strong runners were kept in check by some fantastic tackling. Everyone was playing at the top of their games, with no one taking a backward step. Good players were playing well. Our front row had the measure of DK's front row, Monty Weatherby, Christian Dolan and David Hason-Isasi simply unplayable in the scrum, winning ball against the head numerous times, while the second row, James Finucane and Cameron Beech were faultless in the line-outs. Our back row were up against it, but hammered away at DK's defence, Josh Brookes, Joe Branson and Tom Stock all showing fantastic attacking flair. Callum Darlington at Scrum half coped well against a scrum half who knew where the offside line was, while Luke Pickles was again imperious in his command of the game at Fly-half.

Tom Lea's distribution at Centre and latterly scrum-half was superb, feeding the rampant Josh Elsby, in front of his hero Forbes Edwards. The wingers, all 4 of them, James Parry, Matt Reel, Tom Coulter and Tom Wade all expressed themselves well against a really tough defence, while Jordan Ravenscroft at full-back had his best game of the season, especially under the high ball.

The second half was a tight and tense affair, with neither side wanting to concede. DK came close, thwarted by a fantastic double defence from David Hanson-Isasi and Christian Dolan, while Monty Weatherby, Joe Branson, Josh Elsby and Josh Brookes pounded away at the DK defence. We thought we had scored the winner with a minute to go, only to be denied by the referees whistle.

Just when we thought it wasn't to be our day, the relentless pressure finally paid off, as were awarded a (rare) penalty in kick-able range. Up stepped coolness personified, Matt Reel to slot home the winning points on full time to seal a great win 8-7.

As I have mentioned, everyone played superbly, but Jordan Ravenscroft in the backs and Josh Brookes for the forwards just edged the MOM awards for this week, to set us up nicely for the run in to the final.

What followed the game, is the stuff of legend, tales to tell the kids and grand kids, mainly about the perils of alcohol and hot pants! A great day!