It wasn't really a day to remember for flowing rugby, or great individual skills, from either side but it will be remembered for all the wrong reasons as far a Wold and their supporters are concerned
The game was only three minutes old when Wold's winger Ben Balls was shown a straight red card for a punch thrown at his opposite number following an off the ball incident and a stamping not seen by the referee. The decision was correct but it changed the whole complex of the game, with Wold a man short for pretty much the entire game.
It was Wold's first mistake in their own twenty two and from the resulting penalty, Cooperians kicked for the corner, won the lineout and drove over for the first try of the game and with the conversion good Wold were seven points down as well as a man down with the game barely underway
It left Wold with a lot of hard work to do as they were playing directly into a very strong wind, which meant kicking for territory was not an option.
Three or four times Wold worked themselves up the pitch and into the opposition 22 only to be smartly put back well into their own half by good sensible defensive kicking for territory from Cooperians, ably helped by the wind
Wold had more of the ball and domininated the scrums and looked the team likely to score next until mistake number two on the twenty minute mark.
Good ball was won at a scrum and the ball was fed out to the backs but a long pass from Andrew Skitch at fly half intended for Russell Hune at inside centre was intercepted at pace and despite all the possession, and with the Wold defence completely caught off guard and out of position Cooperians second try resulted and meant they lead by 12 points which was to remain the score until half time. Wold had had probably eighty percent of possession but had failed to score a point
The second half saw the wind advantage now with Wold but the rain started to lash down horizontally and made any proper rugby almost impossible for either side.
As expected Wold took advantage of the conditions and after only eight minutes were camped on the Cooperians five metre line at a lineout, but then came Wolds third and worse mistake. A poor throw went right over the catcher and Cooperians tidied up at the back of the line, fed the ball straight out along their backs line. With a man advantage and again the Wold defence out of position, the move lead to the third try for Cooperians with their winger, having a clear overlap, running nearly the length of the pitch for an unexpected but well deserved try under the posts which was duly converted to make the score 0-19 to the visitors.
With a good lead in hand Cooperians defended well and spoiled Wold's attacks sometimes legally and sometimes illegally, with the latter option leading to two yellow cards for a prop and hooker respectively but even that worked against Wold as the scrums went uncontested and Wold lost their considerable advantage at the set pieces.

The wind and the rain were the victors for the remainder of the match and most of the spectators retreated back to the warmth and dry of the clubhouse.

Three mistakes had lead to three tries and a harsh lesson was learned by the Wold side that sometimes it is not possession that wins games but the taking of opportunities when they are presented, as ably displayed by Cooperians who deserved their win even if it was not through a dominating display of thrilling rugby.
At this level Wold must learn to be more clinical and disciplined in their approach or it will be a long hard season and this Saturdays trip to London to play May and Baker will be a very hard nut to crack without big improvements in both mental and physical effort.

MOM James Hall who never gave up and played his socks off in vain