The 2006/07 season petered out in disappointing fashion with a hard fought loss in the final of the Ellis cup. A disciplined and unusually talented, compared to their regular second team, DHSOB II team took the honours 10-7. An early and nasty knee injury to prop Simon Mulville, which will see him miss at least 12 months of rugby action, forced us into changes we did not wish to make that early in the game.

 

Again injuries cost us further, when Ash Brown Williams, himself a replacement for Mulville, had to leave the field early in the second half, his replacement Henry Lowson, lasted less than 5 minutes before also having to exit injured. In scenes reminiscent of the 2003 world cup final, with equal amounts of pressure and drama, veteran Half back Tim Smale, on at flanker due to the injury crisis, was charged with a penalty in the final minutes to level the game at 10 all. Unfortunately fate was not with us, and the kick, undoubtedly helped by a freak gust of wind, went to the left of the posts, and cup glory was put on hold for another 12 months.

 

Aside from that disappointment, we managed to maintain our place in the second tier of the Devon merit table with the memorable final weeks wins against Honiton and Kingsbridge, secured not only safety but a top half finish. Both those teams, who along with the majority of the merit table we compete in, have first teams in higher leagues than our own, I think this demonstrates just how well the side has competed over the year.

 

The 2007/2008 season started off with Nick Swain returning for another year as Manager and Captain, with the core of the side also returning from last season. The backbone to any good scrum is vital to its success, and with Rich Brown and Jon Charlick propping us up it proves to be a formidable front row for any opposition to come up against. The backs are under pinned by the lightening pairing of Pete Heggi and Ben Randall (both on 6 tries for the season so far, who will be walking away with the silverware this year?!?) on the wings and the ever elusive Lee Le Marquand at full Back keeping the scoreboard ticking over.

 

The Jester spirit has shone through with the start of the new year with new faces being welcomed, in particular Matt Naylor (Chabal) and Graham Steele making an immediate impact in the back row, whilst seasoned campaigners Joel Ruddock and the enigmatic Steve Luffman lead the backs.

 

The aim for the rest of this season is to build on where we are, its never easy, with the competition of as a high a standard as ever, and with injuries and first team call ups regularly making the managers Friday nights less than peaceful in search of replacements, the rest of the season is going to be as hard as it is exciting. We hope to achieve a repeat of last seasons top half merit table finish, and for many of us there are some wrongs that we need to right in the Ellis cup. The desire to add a winners medal to the runners up one of the previous season is so strong within the Jesters squad, it would be difficult to bet against us again making the final and laying to rest last years demons.

 

Nick Swain & Jon Charlick