6 seconds. This was what the referee’s watch read when Gosford went over for their first try. A beautifully weighted high kick off from Will Cook was fumbled and Kay ‘the terrier’ McLaughlin was there to kick it on and had the pace to touch down under the posts, writes Rich Tyler-Gunning. 7-0

Skipper Danny Rae was keen to point out that this had been a lucky bounce and moment of individual brilliance and the rest of the match would not necessarily follow in the same vein. Unfortunately, for the visitors from the Cotswolds, he was mistaken. Two more tries followed in quick succession from Danny himself and Dickie Tyler, both converted by Alfie Morton 21-0.

There was a moment of hope for Chippy when an unlucky bounce of the rugby ball wrong footed Alfie at fullback leading to a simple score, 21-7. But this was followed by more bad luck when their loosehead prop had to go off, resulting in uncontested scrums for the rest of the match.

Not long after this, GAB got the bonus point. Chipping Norton were not going quietly into the night but by now Gosford were playing with real confidence and particularly the backs were producing some wonderful dynamic rugby and particularly the half backs of Jamie Edwards and Will Cook really took control of the game. A perfect miss pass from Will put Danny into space, Alfie came into the line creating a 2 on 1 with the last man and timed his pass to perfection to allow Kay McLauchlan to pin his ears back and score under the posts. 28-7

After some fine line breaks and offloads; Jamie made a powerful snipe from the base of a ruck being stopped short before Tom Bates powered over from close range. 33-7. The only bad news from this was Jamie had to be helped off with a knee injury leading to a reshuffle and an early entry for James ‘Catman’ Allen returning from injury for the first time this season.

The half ended with another try each from Danny Rae and Alfie Morton, now at 9, with some quick feet after taking an offload from Sonic at the base of a maul. 43-7.

Gosford kept going in the 2nd half and Chippy kept fighting; great interplay and line breaks were often stopped a few metres short but then Gosford were able to recycle and put tries in from close range. Tries scored early from the Catman and the Terrier Kay McLauchlan - scoring his hattrick in another fine performance really put the game to bed. 57-7

The game slowed down a little and a run of penalties against the men in black - including a yellow card for a high tackle for Will - gave Chippy some hope. Until…

Ever wondered why Ian Wassell is called Sonic? At first glance the only resemblance to the whirlwind of a hedgehog is the coloured mohawk fluttering behind him but it turns out at times he is capable of the speed and elusiveness of his name sake.

Chippy were starting to put phases together and just as the last pass was about to put a wing into space on the Gosford 10m line (not an exaggeration), out of nowhere comes a blue streak like he was gobbling up coins on Emerald Hill to intercept the ball and leaving a trail of fire behind kept charging towards the line. He was caught by a defiant Chippy defender but he would not be stopped. Holding the ball in one hand, he kept the defender at bay with a series of hand offs while looking for an offload with the other. Eventually he let the ball go in a Michael Jordan-esque pass to Danny who was pulled down 5 metres from the line. But who was already up and ready to take the crash ball over the line for the try? Everyone’s favourite blue hedgehog deservedly scoring the try he started. 64-7

The game ended with a flurry of tries, Alfie Morton (again), Gerado Pradillo and Tom Bates (again) and a deserved consultation for Chippy which they celebrated as if they had won a cup final. 85-14

The win meant a double home victory for the All Blacks and the 2nds continuing their undefeated league run and the celebrations afterwards reflected this. The 1st team guard of honour cheering the 2nd team as they entered the changing rooms was a highlight of the season and the rendition of ‘History’ sung by both teams as one could be heard across the county making every club turn and take notice that Gosford All Blacks are the club all should fear this season.

Special mentions:

Nick Jones the referee - drafted in at the last minute and straight off the plane from Dubai and one of the finest refereeing performances we’ve had this year.
Teifion Jones - The Mark Cueto of Gosford All Blacks, a great game full of attacking line breaks and punishing defence and unlucky not to get on the score sheet again.
Rob Bond - first match for the 2s after an injury plagued start to the season and devastating with ball in hand.

Anyone not already mentioned in a black shirt - the scoreline reflects how amazing everyone played from 1 -19.

Tap Social Man of the Match - A tough decision but a hat trick of fine tries gives it to Kay McLauchlan
DotD - Dickie, after a speech in the huddle about being nice to the referee; he was the only player to be marched back 10m for descent.

Scorers:
K McLauchlan 3T
D Rae 2T
R Tyler-Gunning 1T
T Bates 2T
A Morton 2T 10C
I Wassell 1T
J Allen 1T
G Pradillo Macias 1T