Sunnybank Firestarters Vs Rebel Scum Friday 2/6/06. Scum came into this game following their first win of the season, but no-one was cocky or arrogant, as we knew we had our work cut-out for us against the Wyatt Cup competition leaders. It was a cold night, yet it was a welcome change from the Chipsy-Wood's dustbowl, to be playing on a newly laid pitch at the Dragons lair. Sunnybank looked physically a very imposing side who looked around 20-30Kgs per person bigger across the entire park! But this did nothing to soften the resolve of a Scum side that were willing to put it in 'till the final whistle blew. Scum knew we would have to dig deep for this one as there was only 2 reserves available for Grunter to call upon, in what was going to be a tough/torrid and very bruising affair. From the first scrum, a tight-head against Sunnybank was won by the Scum front row, then the Bankers knew they had an opposition that was not going to roll over and play dead for them. Scum had come and was going to fight every inch of the way! It became immediately obvious from the opening exchanges that the Sunnybank game-plan was centred around continually forcing the phase ball (up to 6 phases) up through the middle of the ruck channels. Scum was ready! The boys stepped up to the challenge and showed that our defence was hardening improving with every game. Yet persistence paid off as the Dragons grabbed first blood in around the 10th minute with a pushover from 5m out. In a surprise to the opposition, Scum was by no means out of the fight and we fired straight back with a snappy back-line move that had Switzy's tree stumps find a hole which found him under the back dot in the 15th min. What endured next could only be described as an arm wrestle between each of the forward packs with Sunnybank scoring twice more from continual pressure on the Scum tryline: both tries coming from forward moves and pushovers. Every time Sunnybank went wide, Scum defence was in their face to cut them down. The 1 on 1 defence was nothing short of outstanding. Half-time time rolled around (17-7), and the scum team looked amazingly bright-eyed & responsive. You could see from the looks on the faces that there was still some fire in this sides' belly & it showed. It now looks as if some of the key combinations are coming together - and it is starting to show on the park. Cheezas communication to the forwards was awe-inspiring, and he was rewarded with a meat-pie late in the second for his efforts. The halves of Coxy & Shultzy are now looking well-oiled. Further outside Barnsey continues to provide plenty of headaches for the opposition, with some arguing that he's actually showing more toe than last year. Once Pezza finds his feet after returning from a shoulder injury this combination will be lethal. Switzy, Andre, Davo & Chinsey are starting to probe for more ball in attack - the more ball in hand these guys get, the more tries Scum will score! Rezo played with plenty of heart on his return from a head injury. Leo & Kel muscled up to a team full of ex-pat countrymen (they were the only 2 that knew how to properly shake hands after the match). Brad Harding looks to have found his starting-spot in the side at loose forward. A huge effort from Chappy just to even make it that night did not disappoint; (& for mine) Scum's most consistent player in the first half of the 2006 season: Al Murphin ensured that this game was a contest to remember. Although the scoreboard probably didn't reflect-it, I walked off playing my first full game in a while with a smile from ear-to-ear: Scum had dug-deep; the spirit shown in this game was something that can carry this team into the second round of the Wyatt Cup and a charge towards the finals. There are some extremely tough opponents ahead - yet Sunnybank are not unbeatable - trust me Grunter & I will be hatching a game plan that could see this side defeated when we meet again later in the year, & maybe (just maybe) in the finals as well!!! Final Score: Sunnybank 22 d Rebel Scum 14. MotM: Cheeza (followed closely by the rest of team). Geoffro & Grunta