"Blame It On The Water"

Cuckoos 25-Buccaneers 7

Some things never change. Saturday, 6 th October, 2007, The Bahamas Rugby opened its 2007-2008 rugby season with a match between the Cuckoos and the Buccaneers. Just like last season, the Cuckoos had to force Steve Johnson off the retirement shelf to ensure that they started with a full complement of players. Now Steve Johnson thinks he should be a regular starter. Well Captain Baker, I believe, now has a difficult decision to make on the matter.

Both Cuckoos and Buccaneers started the match looking rusty. As the match progressed, the Cuckoos began to get the better of the Buccs in rucks, scrum and mauls. Fifteen minutes into the match, Brian Baker gave the Cuckoos a 3-0 lead, thanks to a penalty kick. Twenty-five minutes into the match, the Cuckoos truly exposed their lack of match fitness, rucked the ball well to the Buccs goal line, but were unable to complete. Nevertheless, Baker again booted a penalty kick giving the Cuckoos a half time lead of 6-0.

The fans at the Winton Rugby Pitch were given a free half time show, starring Cuckoos scrumhalf Matt Payton, as his river of vomit broke its banks. One enjoying fan shouted, “Blame it on the water.”

The second half, the cuckoos applied pressure from the kickoff, with Charles Smith and Andrew Bain making good tackles that resulted in hooker Rico Hanchell scoring a try. Conversion was good, giving the Cuckoos a 13-0 lead. Cuckoos began to force its will on the Buccaneers. Meco Cooper proved hard to handle; Andrew Bain demonstrating in the line outs; Charles Smith hustling all over the pitch; Farmer and Robbie Dillette running the ball well, resulting in tries from Meco and Aaron Bethell, giving the Cuckoos a 25-0 lead.

Five minutes left into the match, Jon Issacs erred in his judgment, thus letting the Buccs out of the Cuckoos nest by not properly securing a grubber kick resulting in the Buccaneers' Phil Davis scoring a try. Conversion was good, making the final score Cuckoos 25- Buccaneers 7.

Although its crystal clear that the Cuckoos have plenty of work to do, nevertheless, they should feel fairly good about themselves, for they displayed that they do have a solid foundation on which to build upon. Matt Payton played well, so did Charles Smith, Meco Cooper and Rico Hanchell, but the game ball on this day belonged to Andrew Bain.

Report by Chairmen 'Mac' McCartney