Tuesday, December 26, 2006, Grayfields

By Brendan Baggs

Christmas festivities were once again brought to a climax with the annual Boxing Day fixture between The Stashers and The Gingers taking place at Tech’s Greyfields headquarters. The fixture dates back to 1992 when Keith Baggs’ West Colts took on Michael Siddle’s West Junior Colts after the Gauntlet was thrown down after too much alcohol was consumed one Saturday evening. The Stasher’s were victorious in the initial meeting, with Anthony ‘Chabal’ Cameron commanding in the tight, Lee McNeil dominating the loose, Brendan Baggs orchestrating at the base and Stephen Adamson rampaging in the centre picking up a brace of ties. This trend continued with The Stashers dominating up until the new millennia, although the Gingers did manage a couple of underhand wins. Since the 2000 season the Gingers have managed to gain a stranglehold on the Trophy, mainly due to the devious and dishonest recruitment strategy their coaching unit have employed. However, as time waits for no man and our bodies are not getting any younger for the original players causing the numbers to diminish year on year, it is testament and tribute for those people who ensure that this fixture is as successful as ever and ensure that the match goes ahead hell or high-water.

This year’s enthraller was no exception to the norm and a bumper crowd braved the Xmas weather to witness another cracker jack of an encounter. Excitement was heightened pre-kick-off with the news of the return of Messrs Baggs, McNeil, Adamson and Clark to The Stashers starting line up pushing the number of a teams original members to a new record high. The Gingers could only rely on ringers to swell their numbers! The Gingers spirits were diminished further when a pristine new Stashers kit was unveiled to their astonishment but promises have been made that this will be surpassed next season! Once again the gauntlet has been thrown down!!!

The mercurial Baggs kicked off the fixture with The Stashers having the slight Greyfields slope in their favour and early play was dominated by the Stashers with McNeil throwing off his years (and new found poundage) to catch the eye. However it was The Gingers to score first against the flow of play with Dixon Jnr, who proved to be a thorn in The Stashers side all morning, making the initial break to feed Williamson who sped underneath the posts to open The Gingers account. Clark responded for The Stashers after good interplay between Spades Parker and the blossoming Cameron at Fly Half.

As the first half progressed The Stasher power pack continued to dominate in the tight but with the evergreen Cook on one flank and the assertive Best on the other they were able to produce a morsel of scraps for The Gingers back line to take advantage of to score a hat-trick of ties before the break to turnaround 4-1 ahead.

The Stashers coaching team had a rethink during the break and made the tactical decision to ditch the 10 man rugby employed in the first half and utilise a more expansive philosophy. Although looking sharp and dangerous on the wing Baggs was brought in to his more regular Fly-half birth, pushing Cameron up to the No.8 spot and Cheshire was brought into the Scrum Half position. This decision was justified instantaneously with The Gingers tiring legs unable to keep up with the swift and expeditious rugby The Stashers were now playing with Spades Parker, Baggs and Cheshire crossing the opposition’s line to bring the scores back level.

The Gingers replied again using their outer backs as their main weapon of choice exploiting the Connolly weak link in the Stasher’s armoury for Best to finally finish off a fluid move. After a period of sustained pressure applied by The Stashers pack the 8, 9, 10 combination of Messrs Cameron, Cheshire and Baggs weaved their magic again to generate the space out wide for the Peter Panesque figure of Mixie ‘Mickey Pierce’ Parker to crash over in the corner to bring the scores level once again.

This epic encounter now at fever pitch erupted into it’s finale with both sides pressing for the winning try. The Stashers pounded away at the Ginger’s try line with wave after wave of attack but the Gingers barricades held strong. The ball finally spilled in the tackle from a Stashers player and the Gingers took the invitation to counter attack from their own try line through their speedy backs and play quickly advanced to the Stashers 22 yard line where a desperate covering tackle stopped a try scoring opportunity. However, The Gingers were not to be outdone and Nick Vincent (another dubious ringer) cut a line any international centre would have been proud off and sliced the Stashers depleted defence in two and thundered under the posts for the decisive try. The referee (also of ginger origin I hassen to add!) blew his final whistle to bring to an end a match of astronomical rugby quality that many compared to the memorable Baba’s vs NZ 1973 tussle at the Cardiff Arms Park.

However, the festivities did not stop there!!! Post match merriment continued in Tech’s prestigious surroundings where a five star banquet was laid on for players and guests and the annual Jenga challenge tested the nerve and dexterity of all involved. The pier Dee résistance of the day resulted in the Bob Monkhousesque Swoller chairing The Stashers vs Gingers Family Fortunes extravaganza with The Stashers succeeding at the death 5 points to 4. However special mention should go to Ginga’s response to the question ‘Name a bird with a long neck?’ Answer: ‘Naomi Campbell. Only to be surpassed by Joners Answer: ‘Giraffe!’. Absolute priceless!!!

I hope everybody had a good time at the event and I am sure all are looking forward to next year already. See you there!!!

Re: News: Gingers v Stashers 2006

Author: Mazza el Barmaideo  Date:   02-01-07 14:48 Quality Bren! Word on the street is that there is to be a Stashers v Gingers 7's tournament (GAME) at the end of the season - can this rumour be confirmed. The Ginger 7 has already been asked to clear a space in the diary. I would think that the Stashers should think about whether they would wish to compete because of their poor form in the 15 a side fixture.

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