Saturday afternoon saw Bognor Vets play host to touring side Deeping Dragons from Lincolnshire.
The tourists arrived early and immediately headed out on the pitch to warm up, much to the dismay of Bognor, who were worried that Deeping were taking it a bit seriously.
Bognor’s initial concerns over how many players would turn up were soon put to one side as plenty of the old (and a few young) boys took the opportunity to pull on the purple, green and white shirt once again.
Out on the field, the team’s positions were quickly finalised, and the whistle heralded the start of the game.
Deeping initially came out all guns blazing and made inroads into the Bognor defence. However, a rapid counter attack from Brown, the nimble Bognor hooker, set up the opportunity for the backs to run riot and canter in for their first try.
Bognor used their forwards power to force Deeping onto the back foot and allow the backs the chance to run in two more fast flowing tries.
The rest of the first half saw a similar pattern of Bognor dominance. Deeping showed occasional flashes of brilliance only to be halted just before getting over the line. Half time score 15-0.
After a rousing half time talk from the shy and quietly spoken captain Hay, the second half was a different story. Bognor continued to press with several charging runs from man of the match Parsons, but Deeping put up a more solid defence and Bognor were only able to cross the line once, with a blind side break from Weller who flopped over from five yards out.
Deeping, however, kept at it and, after a period of intense pressure they were finally rewarded with a try just before the final whistle, making it 20 – 5 to the home side.
Team: Hay, Millen, Parsons, Lancaster, Brookes, O'Connor, Brown, Trent, Mathews, Teasdale, Thomas, Meaby, Cooper, Davis, Clarke, Weller, Shipp, Shepheard, Halligan, Langridge, Wright, Caddick, Castleton (Ref).