We brought our case and Nat’s rugby kit downstairs and deposited it in the hall before transferring everything to the coach. After a quick check of the rooms to make sure we’d left nothing behind we bid farewell the YH and boarded the coach.
The boys were scheduled to take part in an under thirteen’s tournament in the Norfolk town of Diss (yes the possibilities for punning were immediately apparent and indulged in to their fullest extent during the journey) which was quite a distance so we prepared for a longish journey.
An hour or so later we arrived in Diss, at which point the punning became universal, and eventually, by following the crowds, located the rugby club. It appeared that this tournament was a regular annual event and there a lot of people already there when we arrived.
We located the changing rooms and officials and the lads got changed.
They were scheduled to play five matches in group one. One of the members of this group was the Fakenham team we’d played the previous day and this caused a little concern. Well, what a revelation, without the usual warm up and team chat the boys took to the field and won their first match against ……. (these were fast matches of 7 minutes per half and so arranged that each team had a reasonable break between matches) one score to zero.
Of the five matches the lads acquitted themselves honourably and won three of them. Not surprisingly we lost to Fakenham who were, not surprisingly; once again fielding their superstar and we also lost our last match against…..
Nat played really well, running (gasp) his little heart out, making crunching tackles and twice narrowly missed scoring….bless his little cotton socks!
Well to say the Dad’s were animated when the boys were playing would be a huge understatement. After their first victory we were all filled with elation and cheered them on with all our hearts. Beers were bought and consumed and Paddy began to show the effects of a slight “over-indulgence” to put it diplomatically.
As usual, between matches Nat, jacob and Zak were inseparable
The staff, in the club house, were very friendly
as was everyone else and, in addition, we had the opportunity to renewed acquaintances with some of the Fakenham folk we’d met the day before, including the previously mentioned Scottish gentleman who was very complementary about the way our guys were playing.
Eventually, we’d played our last match and before boarding the coach for the trip home photographs were taken outside
and then there were a number of presentations in the club house bar room. Each of the lads received a certificate commemorating the trip and various persons were thanked for their efforts in organising the trip in the first place.
After this we made our way back to the coach and prepared to leave.
On the way back we stopped at a service station where the boys were treated to a McDonalds before we continued on.
During the journey Zak and Jacob, who were seated behind their Dads, started gently trying to putt things on their head’s without them noticing
and this was pretty funny watch; meanwhile Paddy tried to sleep. We arrived back at The Vipers at about 7:30 where Deb and Hannah were waiting for us and after saying our goodbyes headed home for some well deserved rest.
BELOW IS A SLIDE SHOW OF ALL OF THE DAYS
PHOTOGRAPHS
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