Even at the Pightle, the effects of Storm Darragh were being felt on a wet and blustery Saturday when PJF hosted O Whitgiftians. Both sides tried to play rugby in the difficult conditions. The early exchanges saw Whitgiftians, playing against the wind , have the better of the early exchanges. However, after 10 min utes PJF began to work their way into the game, pinning Whitgiftians back in their 22m. Try as they might, PJF couldn't make the lst yard needed for a score. Eventually the pressure tod and PJF forced themselves over the whitewash for the opening score on the right side of the pitch. The kick was added and the half closed with PJF up by 7-0. The second half saw PJF again pressing but again the final pass or drive couldn't quite get them over the line. PJF's profligacy was eventually punished when Whitgiftians got a break away try to score. The extra points were added to square the game. Still PJF pressed and again were undone by a mistake that saw Whitgiftians score a second breakaway try. On this occasion the kick was missed. A further mistake saw Whits go in for a third breakaway try under the posts. With the extras the score stood at 7-19. After the restart PJF returned to the offensive driving Whits back into their 22. The pressure eventualkly told and PJF battered their way over the line for an unconverted try. The score was 12-19 with 8 minutes on the clock. Again PJF assaulted the Whitgiftians line only to come up short time and again. Eventually, with the last play of the game Shane battered his way through under the posts only to have the referee say that the ball wasn't grounded.
So another frustrating afternoon came to a close with PJF only claiming a losing bonus point for all their endeavours, for the third week in a row. The stand out forwards were Shane van der Schiff and Dave Williams, both of whom put in the hard yards. The gap between winning and losing is very small. I think it is fair to say that PJF have lost all their matches this season rather than the opposition winning them. We can only hope that the side looks at itself and answers the hard question of what do we need to do to turn these results around. The answer is not much is needed. Players need to be more effective both on and off the ball, and the ball carrier needs to be better supported by the other players in his 'pod' and not allowed to get isolated because that is how we are getting turned over far too often. This Saturday, PJF travel to Imber Court to take on Met Police. The following Saturday sees PJF at the Pightle agsainst Walcountians. There is a Christmas lunch before the game, so if you would like to attend, please book your place, see details below.