This was the game that nearly didn’t start. Wiveliscombe had made the trip form the other side of Taunton to find a home side numbering just ten, but with five minutes to go, Ivel’s numbers swelled to sixteen. And what a sixteen. The Ivel front eight had a combined age of 200 years plus. Harold “H” Williams, Malcolm Pain and Roger “Popeye” Law are on the experienced side of fifty with the rest of the pack having an average age of thirty. Even Club President Colin Hendrie brought his boots back out again to help ensure the match happnened.

Wiveliscombe travelled with a strong team and, when Ivel trotted out, thought they must stand a fairly good chance of a win. But looks can be deceptive. The game was evenly matched with the sides trading points on a frequent basis. But then Joe “Lightning” Covu opened up his pace. And the tries really flowed.

Some close work with good communication and slick passing saw Joe total up five tries in the match. He managed to convert four of them before handing the point scoring duties over to Shaun Rudd, Captain for the day and Man of the Match Craig Fellows.  Both Shaun and Craig scored a try apiece with Craig notching one conversion.

This was truly a game of allsorts but the mixture of ages and experience for Ivel gelled and certain players shone such as Sean and Craig Fellows (both former Ivel Colts coming back) and Stewart Dury standing out.

We also had the sight of, for the first time this season, two families playing for the same Ivel team. Not just the Fellows previously mentioned but also Roger, Mark and Barry Law turning out. Barry returning after two years out following major surgery on a broken arm.

A positive and friendly game that could see a few players making more appearances for Ivel. And not just for the 3rds.