Veteran Molloy hints at a final retirement
The big news of the day was not another stunning away win, and no tries conceded, for the all conquering NMRFC Vets team, but, the stunning suggestion from stalwart Ade Molloy that he may actually be considering his final retirement from the game – for the record, this will be the twelfth time he has ‘officially' retired.
The news comes as something of a shock to his nearest and dearest, but considering his continued lack of ability to remember times and dates of matches and his inability to remember venues or directions, this news will come as little surprise to his teammates.
Having arrived late again on Saturday, Molloy was relegated to fourth choice winger behind the more ample and youthful abilities of Nigel ‘Roadrunner' Davies; Chris ‘Wiley-Cat' Wile and Simon ‘I'm Gorgeous' Castle. The disappointment, or perhaps realisation, of his new found demoted position was obvious to see, but when the shaken former first team man began to heckle and undermine his own players, the depth of his delirium was all too obvious to the watching crowd. (Incidentally, it is amazing to see the increasing numbers of followers willing to turn up to witness the Vets open running style !).
As for the action on the pitch, Moderns' Vets turned out a strong, competitive side and (unlike others club sides) were comfortable in having at least four replacements (including the delirious Molloy). That strength in depth paid dividends on a blustery afternoon as the chosen starting XV were eager to cement their places and not be replaced.
Starting against the gusty, blustery, Arctic conditions Moderns were soon under pressure as Casuals used the wind well to make good ground. Throwing in became a lottery, so the battlelines were drawn in the scrum where Moderns were able to apply power and poise to repel the Casuals forwards. One passage of play saw Moderns repel at least a dozen shunts and pushes towards their line, before snaffling ball away to ease the pressure.
As more ball became secured, so too Moderns were able to break out and enjoy their more expansive running style. Good breaks from Kieran playing at inside-centre and a rejuvenated Richard Watkinson saw Moderns move into the Casuals half.
From a resultant lineout on the Casuals 22, Moderns' finally broke their duck. Casuals ‘put in and fumble' fell to the feel of our colossus Lee ‘No Added Salt' Buttery. With a swift pick up from off his toes, a nifty hand-off of the fly-half and a powerful surge to the line - taking all with him – he was over under the posts. What power !!
The resultant conversion was made by the twin brother of Rob Careless. This is the twin who obviously got the rugby playing talent since it was a different player to the one that couldn't catch, kick or pass against Rolls Royce two weeks earlier. With consummate ease, little back lift or follow through, the ball soared through the uprights against the howling wind.
The power and technique shown by the front five was a pleasure to behold. Endless centuries of experience were on show from Phil ‘I'll never retire' Dewey, Dave ‘Somebody stop me' Walls, Mick ‘I'll bench' Helm, and Dec ‘Knees-up-Mother' Brown. The foundations of another fighting victory and solid defence were taking shape.
The half was interrupted for a few minutes while try-scorer Lee ‘I can't believe it's not' Buttery received attention for a slightly bent nose – well, more like a right-angled nose injury !! The rest was well received by his teammates – thanks Lee.
Refereeing was also something of a lottery but David ‘Chirpy' Hassall was suffering from serious laryngitis and therefore the afternoon was somewhat quieter for the referee than he had been expecting – although Alistair ‘Our Chairman' Clark had a few choice words on a number of occasions.
The rest of the half passed with very little other action to report on. Long Casuals kick to touch, some successful, others only finding the rampaging Moderns back-three of Davies-Fox-Wile who were happy to run the ball back all day. Moderns defence was strong and showed no gaps, so Casuals resulted to kicking a penalty to reduce the deficit to 7-3 at half time.
Starting the second period with the wind at their backs Moderns were soon into their stride, despite a number of changes at half-time, including Ade ‘I'm retiring again' Molloy on one wing. This was somewhat of an enforced change as our fire-fighting, all action hero Chris ‘Wiley-cat' Wile had to leave to go and battle fires. Needless to say, Molloy shuffled around for 35 minutes with his hands in his pockets !!
Fortunately his teammates were unaware of his shuffling and continued their great work effort. A brilliantly judged kick across the field by the quiet Hassall resulted in yet more chaos at the resultant line-out. From the following rucks the ball somehow found its way to Nigel ‘GTi' Turbo. Celebrating his 93rd birthday that day there was no way Nigel was giving his present to anyone. Looking up at the Casual defenders, he coolly began to engage them in conversation about drainage design and unblocking techniques. As the defenders turned away in pure boredom Nigel found himself chasing one of them as he retreated behind his own post protector. Wanting to grab hold of his quarry and give him the full extent of his knowledge on filtration rates and self-cleansing velocities, Nigel placed the ball on the ground and gave chase. The referee had little option but to award the five points and we are grateful to ‘Chirpy' Hassall and ‘Mouthy' Clark for ‘assisting' the referee in his decision making.
Again, Rob Careless posted the additional points with ease and duly suggested he may give up hammer throwing to concentrating on his kicking career.
As with the previous performance against Rolls Royce, Moderns were now cutting free and finding gaps. Some great ball handing was on show, as well as sterling work in the loose from Stewart ‘Is my Dad watching?' Newman and Steve ‘Bullet-proof' Taylor – who has now played in all 22 shirts in the team !!
It wasn't long before more points came along, this time due to a great team effort. The ball was moved from one side of the pitch to the other and then back again, completely stretching the Casuals' defence as well as the Moderns' lungs. Finally the ball reached the bullocking Stewart Newman who had by now spotted his Father on the touchline. Like a man possessed Stewart crashed through tackle after tackle to fly across the line and touch down. He then ran, arms aloft, to his tearfully proud Dad, David, and they embraced each other lovingly. A touching sight.
Rob ‘I couldn't' Careless missed the conversion as he was too choked with emotion to concentrate completely on the kick.
Another great performance by the old boys, showing commitment (except Molloy), skill, desire and raw power to see off a battling Casuals side. Well done to both teams and the referee !!
