Bath 2nds 7:5 Swindon

Friendly games are extremely important for the development of Bath Juniors, practice is all well and good, but there is no substitute for game time, and to play along side adults really brings the best out of the kids, or 'young adults' as we are meant to call them. So a friendly against Swindon, the newest club in the South West is a big deal. Swindon arrived with 8 players of varying ages, and Bath University provided 6 more players, making them the toughest team the Bath development squad had come across. As usual the seniors rallied round, especially in defence to provide a solid backbone to the team, Jim Cowen playing short stick and Tricky Bowden playing his first game of the season since his knee operation last autumn. Yet again the 'young adults' were not phased out by the older faster opposition and played some really good Lacrosse. Man of the Match was Luke 'Fluffy' Wilmot in defence, who had a cracking game, not far behind was George Devitt playing in Midfield, both of them only 13. The game was even throughout, but the home team edged the third quarter to take and hold the lead, Lloyd Butler, playing in goal despite a bad back getting a shutout in the fourth quarter. The return of Tricky Bowden saw him get a hat trick, two of them from good feeds from Jake Beck and Pat Peacock. He also got an assist to Mike Carey in the third. Yet again a proud day for the coaches, these guys are going to be good, really good.

Quotes of the day:

'Do the kids have to whinge all the time'? Jim Cowen to the referee

'Ah fresh meat' Mike Brand just before facing off to a guy one quarter of his size