Once again we had a really large squad of players available for this preseason friendly and had an opportunity to look at some new combinations. In the A-side match we started off well with Tucci crossing for a try after just 5 minutes to take a 5 – 0 lead, but we seemed to slow things down a little too much and allowed Reading to put us under pressure. Some moves were worked well, but a combination of heavy ground and wet ball errors just stopped the moves resulting in points. Reading struck back well to take the lead 20 minutes later and just before the half-time break scored a second try from a break away. At the half Frederick was down 5 – 12.

Ten minutes into the second half Reading scored again and although we had plenty of possession and made some clean breaks, Reading’s defense held true and we could not add to our score. Final was Frederick 5, Reading 17.

In the B-side the guys were a bit more direct at the ruck and we generated much quicker ball than in the A-side. This resulted in a lot of points – five tries in all from Jason Evenhuis, Sage Winn, Julian Reading, Eric Kretzer and Steve Strickland. Scott Wade added a conversion. Just before the half Reading ran a try in. At the break it was Frederick 27, Reading 5.

Unfortunately for Mike Donohoe and Simon Arendt due to come on at the half – this is where the day got interesting!

We had to call the game at the half due to lightning but then came the 60-mile an hour wind and horizontal hail. The tree then came down closing the road and crushing a spectator’s car (fortunately she got out of the car in one piece). After a few beers the two firefighters on hand, Justin and PJ got to work with a chain saw and the rest of us hauled off the logs from the road. Very strange day that I’m sure will be a favorite for tall tales in the years to come! Thanks to Jonathan Warner for letting us use the farm pitch and huddle in his home trying to keep warm during the storm.

Although it was a disappointing result in the first side, some positives were pretty obvious in the way moves were being constructed. It was just lack of precision on the finishing that let us down – something that can be corrected with some focused work over the next few weeks. Congratulations to our MVPs Justin Maynard (two weeks in a row now!) and Steve Strickland – both well deserved.