It's Ok to be a little bit reflective at this time of the year. One of the songs sung by the Falkland Primary School choir at their recent Christmas Carol Service was Somewhere Only We know, the song recorded by Keane in 2003. The young singers were clearly enjoying themselves. Last June at Glastonbury Keane performed this song during their set on the Pyramid Stage, accompanied by upwards of 50000 people belting out the song. These young people, like the Falkland pupils were also enjoying themselves. And the point of this? There is nothing more uplifting than seeing young people enjoying themselves, having a good time and taking pleasure in each other's company and that warm, fuzzy feeling was there again on Saturday, firstly watching the lads win on the pitch and then seeing the pleasure on their faces taking the applause of the not inconsiderable crowd in Blues corner at the end of the game and later in Kickers, all in Santa costumes, enjoying each other's company listening to singer Matt Sutton play a brilliant set of music. By about half past seven with us oldies dispersing the players were about to go into town to continue their evening. Probably a few tales to tell but that is the preserve of the players.

There were plenty of tales to tell from the match and how great was it to see a father and son playing in the forwards and to see two brothers playing together in the second row. Take a bow the Stewarts and Doels, Graham Stewart scoring Blues second try and Ashley Doel touching down for the third, taking the scoring pass from his brother Kyle. Ashley then went on to play prop for the final eight minutes of the game, was prominent throughout and was rightly named player of the match. Tales pre game as well with over 150 people in the Wickens Suite for lunch, the Bulldogs taking a couple of tables, port auction and a great feel to the proceedings. Downstairs rammed as well, free beer from Renegade Brewery, free mince pies courtesy of the club and anticipation of a game played in far better conditions than the previous home game.

Blues set off at a gallop, starting with great intent. An early chip through by Fergus Walker resulted in an attacking scrum for Blues and all of a sudden a burst through by Jonny Lees who showed his strength and skill to power over for Blues first try five minutes into the game. The conversion by Dan Thorne put the hosts 7-0 up. In these early stages Blues were mixing their game up well, sometimes attacking close in, sometimes looking for an edge out wide. The game plan was working very well with Ali McGee prominent in attack and defence. Making his first Blues home start, Alec McCormack was doing very well and his break led to a promising position, only for a knock on in the Andover twenty two to stall the attack. Andover then put Blues under some pressure but then probably the best passage of play of the game. Blues retrieved the ball and set up a blistering attack moving the ball from touch line to touch line, Harry Edwards being involved twice and then the forwards took over and Graham Stewart scored his try. Dan Thorne's conversion made the score 14-0 after 25 minutes. Blues looking good, doing well, exerting a lot of pressure but then inexplicably starting to give away penalty after penalty. Inevitably momentum and continuity waned which would have frustrated the players and coaching staff and resulted in the final fifteen minutes of the half belonging to Andover. In this period the visitors scored 13 points and on the half time whistle Andover were well and truly back in the game. The thirteen points came from two penalties and a try on the stroke of half time. The first penalty was adjudged to have gone over after hitting an upright and four minutes later Andover kicked their second penalty, this one a lot more obvious. And still the penalties kept being given away making it very difficult for Blues to gain any effective attacking position. Instead their defence was constantly being tested. They did well to hold out for as long as they did but there was the sense that a try was coming and inevitably it did come and just as inevitably it came from another penalty given away by Blues. A quick tap and a forwards rumble and all of a sudden we had a one point game.

The second half started with both sides giving away penalties. Nothing came from either of these but fifteen minutes into the half Blues secured a foothold in the Andover 22 and from this position the forwards took control of the ball and Ashley Doel scored his try close in to the posts. Dan Thorne kicked the conversion to take the score to 21-13. Blues now began to exert some pressure with the back row of Harry Bedford, Harry Edwards, Jonny Lees and replacement Dylan Stewart having an increasingly significant impact on the game. Ben Hicks was instrumental in helping Blues win a scrum penalty and Tom Cole made a great kick out of defence. And then Blues bonus point try. Moving from left to right the ball found Josh Bartlett who made good ground before feeding Jamie Futcher who sped in to score in Blues Corner to the delight of the hundreds of supporters on the terrace and the balcony to take the score to 28-13. Dan Thorne kept up his 100% kicking success with the conversion, not easy in the difficult kicking conditions. The final ten minutes of the game saw Blues giving away fewer penalties and exerting a lot of pressure on the visitors. Josh Bartlett's chip and chase almost brought a try as did Alec McCormack's jinking run through. As the game neared the final whistle there was time for another storming run by Jonny Lees and a try saving tackle from Ali McGee. The final play came when Blues won the ball on the floor with those from the side urging the team to try and find space out wide. GRS was having none of it and kicked the ball off the field to bring the match to an end. Loved it!

Thanks as always to the players from both sides, to referee Dean Crossley, to sponsors and to all supporters. Thanks also to Head Coach James McAvoy, Manager Kevin Rhoads, Physio Martin Paice and Touch judge Dangerous Dave Shields. There is a lot of hard work that goes into preparing the team, doing the admin, caring for the players and looking after referees. A lot of this is unseen but Blues would not be able to function properly without the input of these and others, many of whom give up their time freely for our club. Thanks to you all.

Short break for turkey, pigs in blankets or whatever food is being prepared and we go again in the new year, 4th January Blues away at Farnham and Stags home to Beaconsfield II. Have a great Christmas break.

Brian Lee