Bude 1st XV 50

President’s XV 29

ON A FINE but windy Boxing Day, the President’s XV with the wind behind them and well led by the gnarled veteran flanker Mini Fry took the lead with two early converted tries against a Bude team that had the appearance of 15 men who had eaten a couple too many mince pies and had unfortunately forgotten to offer one to referee, Zarron Bell.

However, even at this stage their defence looked to be having trouble containing the prancing and dancing Bude back division spearheaded by the marauding Kyle Speare and the ebullient Joe Wilson. It came as no surprise, therefore, when Prancer and Dancer sleighed the President’s defenders for Speare to deliver two belated Christmas gifts to the home side.

The President’s men replied with two more tries of their own, one being a fine solo effort from Tully.

Halftime saw the gallant President’s men turn to face the wind with an impressive 24-10 lead.

With a following wind and adventurous and free-flowing rugby Bude dominated the second half with two tries from Dan Pearce, another two from Kyle Speare, and singles for Olly Denford and Joe Wilson.

The makeshift President’s XV battled gamely against the odds to the bitter end and were rewarded when Rollo McGrath brought back memories long past glories when he put on sale an outrageous dummy that was bought by the Bude defence with the alacrity of customers storming the counters at a Boxing Day sale allowing Rollo to lurch across the line for a vintage score.

The final score was irrelevant. The game was played in excellent spirit and was hugely enjoyed by a substantial crowd who were only too happy to join the players in the clubhouse for the post-match festivities, sample the potent punch of Bill Kneebone and have their ears mashed by the dulcet tones of Steve Cowling.