Aldbourne/Hungerford 29      Sutton Benger 2’s 22

13 hardy souls turned out for Benger 2’s on Saturday, and with the kind donation of two players from the home side, an entertaining game was had.  It was apparent right from the kick off that fitness levels were not what they may have been, and several were blowing out of their arses within ten minutes.  Nevertheless Benger took the lead when Paul Boorman fly hacked his way up the length of the field to score the first try. Aldbourne responded in kind courtesy of some dubious defence.  Scrum half, James “Box Kick” Bambury then went down as though he’d been shot by a member of the Hungerford Taleban and was duly carted off to hospital.  Down to fourteen Benger pressed forward and gained due reward when Shipman carved through the defence to score yet another try.  Cheese Crome playing in the second row then embarked on a ninety metre fly hack of his own to stretch the lead.  Fair play to the referee who was the only person on the field within fifty metres of him when he touched down.  At this stage it looked as though Benger may have been on for a morale boosting victory, but the extra man (soon to become men) was starting to count as the home side made use of the overlap to pull a try back.  A further try in the second half from Ed Watson after a series of interpassing up the right wing that resembled something like proper rugby took Benger clear again but after Shipman crawled off bleating about a sore back the extra numbers allowed Aldbourne to take a winning lead.

This may turn out to be the final second team fixture for a good while as a spate of retirements, loss of interest and commitment from some, and a long injury list has reduced the available numbers significantly.  Seems a shame when all those who turned out enjoyed the game …