The Return of EGRFC Vets!

"THE RETURN OF THE VETS"

"Saturday afternoon saw the long awaited return to play for East Grinstead for a number of senior players. Along with the 1s and 2s game the Vets had the honour of playing on the 1s pitch for the first time in many years. We took the middle slot.

EG Vets took on a Crowborough 3s side that had played together for years and against many of our Vets. It was the perfect fixture for the Return of the Vets. We had a mixture of ten players who have worn the EG shirt for longer than they care to remember being Garry Gordon, Bob Marsh, Brian Shillinglaw, Gavin Rowley, Ken Roser, Aaron Gee, Richard Darch, Gary Kellas, Omaid Hiwaizi and George Ellis and five new faces (to the vets at least) Stephen Lampkin, Jon Seal, Neil Oakley, Cormac Devery and Steve Rhodes who are Dads or involved with coaching our Minis and Juniors.

The hard ground and warm temperature were not an ideal formulae for senior players but we gave it a very good over four quarters. Everyone gave a good showing against senior players from Crowborough mixed with their youth. We scored a very well crafted try after going two tries down early on, our try was made by some individual brilliance by Garry Gordon, rolling back the years, and finished off by Gavin Rowley. We had long spells of pressure close to the Crowborough try line but kept coming up short. They got a couple of late tries late on when our legs ran out of energy but otherwise it was a very competitive game throughout and certainly something we can build on.

There is the intention to have regular Vets fixtures during the season following the excellent turn out at this first game. Keep an eye on the website for the forthcoming fixtures."