Wheatley travelled to Shire Hall with 17 players, having only had 11 on Friday morning. It was always anticipated to be a tough ask but players out of position and others coming back off a long time out of the game were likely to struggle.

However, from the kick off, Wheatley played with their usual dogged forward play, the problem was that those forwards were in the backs. Having 12 forwards on the pitch meant Wheatley could be confident of winning possession, but they were not sure of what to do with it.

The set pieces worked well with Harry and Jimbo in the line but the scrum was the real high point. The new laws enabled Wheatley to win a couple against the head as well as win two penalties.

At half time, Wheatley were still in the game at 8-0 down, but the second half saw Wheatley's lack of defensive organisation show. Despite good debuts from Josh at full back and Andre the Giant on the wing, as well as veteran enigma Sharkey on the other, the Wheatley defensive line couldn't not hold back the hosts.

All in all a poor result for Wheatley, but some real positive signs:
1 - The scrum was solid and went forward
2 - The set pieces worked well
3 - Picked up a couple of new players
4 - We confirmed, once and for all, that Poochos is not a centre
5 - Jim managed not to punch someone after being binned
6 - Surm has started taking the piss out of people for having farmers accents and going to the opera. If he can become cultured, there is hope for the rest of us!
7 - Polly was not the only front row player wearing bright yellow boots

Probably best to consider that a preseason game and look forward to the rest of the season.

Next week, two teams at home. We hope for a better showing and to get our season on track.