With grey skies the Buccs took the field against North Halton on Saturday May 14, beginning with the 2nd team game. The grey skies soon turned to all out rain and the Buccs 2 squad felt the punch of an early try against them. Not backing down however they fought back to keep it tight going into the half, with rookie Bucc Vincent Picone picking up a sublime offload from Simon Cooper and touching it down inside the try line. The Buccs 2 followed with another try thanks to rookie Bucc Basil Lambiris who went on to score two tries for the day and helped pull the Buccs 2 team pull within one point of the opposition with less than two minutes to play. Thanks to a penalty by North Halton, the Buccs 2 decided to go for the goal and at the last play of the game veteran Simon Cooper knocked an epic penalty kick through the uprights. Final score Buccs 22, North Halton 20.

The Buccs first team took the field still under heavy rain but also with a much soggier field. In true Buccs spirit they rucked hard and gave it their all. Spurred by the second team, an early penalty kick had the Buccs 1 up by 3, but North Halton soon stormed back and scored two tries leaving it 12-3 at the half. The second half brought more rain and worse field conditions which led to some tough work for both forward and backs. Both teams managed a score in the second half brining the final to a disappointing North Halton 17, Buccs 8.

Credit to all players new and old for sticking it out in touch conditions and playing hard for a full 80 minutes. Thanks also to our non playing support from the sidelines, who made the game feel more like a home match than away, and were some of the most vocal presence on or off the field.

Let’s all get out and work hard to build on the positives from last weekend!