A winning start to 2018..there's lovely.isn't it?

So as it turned out,just to confuse things,the Gannets fielded a side containing 2x Gareth Williams,one of whom is very Welsh and the other whose nickname is Welshy.Then there's Martin Welsh who is also nicknamed Welshy (genius!).Steve Wootton who is also very Welsh and Matt Clarke who is half Welsh.Oh and Brian Williams who is a paramedic and not related to the other two Willams boys.

Thankfully things were not further muddled by adding Gary 'Paddy' Curran to the mix as he was last seen boarding a plane to Egypt with a suitcase full of Tramadol.

With Mayhem taking charge of the pre match warm ups by declaring that we didn't need to practise catching as 'we all know how to catch',it was perhaps no surprise when Sargey dropped the first ball that came his way,despite being cheered on from the sidelines by his part time lover Dan Bromley who lost the fight to be water boy to an 11 year old.

As expected,Sheppey came at their hosts full tilt from the off,leading to an entertaining battle which the Gannets edged with some solid tackling and powerful running of their own,especially through the backs via Rohan and John Booth,in their first season of senior rugby and Steve Wootton who is old enough to be their Grandad if he lived in Sheerness.

A penalty opportunity presented itself in front of the sticks in the 20th minute and the Gees elected to kick,much to the chagrin of the Sheppey supporters who deemed that far too flash for our level of rugby.John Booth made no mistake and it was 3-0.

Minutes later a quick Gees counter attack saw John Booth break away towards the 22 and find Rohan with a pass to the outside.He looked certain to be brought down until out of nowhere,a Sheppey defender collided with his would be tackler leaving him free to touch down under the posts...it was a bit like that bit at the end of Star Wars when that TIE fighter smashed into Darth Vaders and Luke..never mind.

Anyway,the score stood delicately poised at 10-0 at the half and with Sheppey still very much a live opponent,the housewives favourites were by no means home and hosed.Changes were made by Gannets that saw the introduction of the Predator who very nearly didn't make the game,such is the world of dodgy backstreet accountancy and Ryan Lane,looking decidedly heavier from eating too much in America.

With it all to play for,the Gannets spent much of the second period on the back foot with much of Sheppeys good work revolving around their 8,9,10 axis.The home defence spread well and tackled hard however ensuring that their visitors got no closer than the 5.

A swift break downfield saw Kristien cross the line and seemingly touch down but with the ref behind play the Sheppey defender did what anyone else would do in his position and got himself between the ball and the grass and the try was denied.This was only delaying the inevitable,however as a strong shove from the resulting scrum saw Brian Williams,on loan from the Swans for the day,pick and go for the go ahead score.

15-0 it finished against one of the Gannets rivals for mid table obscurity and all told it was an impressive performance,especially with them missing key players such as Perce,Jamie and the aforementioned Irishman.Oh,and we had Sargey throwing into the lineout for a bit which is when it all went to ratshit to be honest.

Next week it's another home outing against Aylesford and it's only the Gannets at home so a big crowd is expected...as there's a wedding reception in the hall that day.

Until next time,muddy funsters.....