And the day started so well. Just under 250 for lunch, Kickers bar full, lots of past players in the club reliving memories of matches gone by, that tackle they made, that try they scored, that time on tour when this or that happened, remembering where they were when Jonny kicked "that' drop goal and interestingly talking about the BBC radio commentary of those final minutes of that match. Commentator Ian Robertson's choice of words and emotion were just fantastic and it goes to show how exciting a radio commentary can be. Nothing better than sometimes watching a game on TV and listening to a radio commentary. Its not all about national radio though. Here in West Berkshire we have our own radio station, Kennet Radio, which has been broadcasting for just over 10 years and a recent edition of their Saturday Chatterday programme featured Pete Branch, father of Harry Waye Branch and long time member of the club. Pete has traveled far and wide to watch games, is a great supporter of both Stags and Blues, well respected by players and management alike, and is always seen, camera in hand wandering around the perimeter of the pitch looking for that elusive shot. Pete has put many hours into the club and like us all he was disappointed with the outcome of last Saturday's match, but at least he's a radio star.

Where to start? Going 7-24 down, working hard to effect a momentum change, pulling back to 24 all, President Trevor Coles announcements suddenly reflecting an intonation of excitability, supporters wanting more of the same and then..............Wow, what a final quarter, conceding four tries to end up on the wrong side of a 24-48 loss. Losing a game which could have gone either way is one thing, losing in the way that happened on Saturday is something else. Lessons will be learnt and there is no doubt the players will be woking as hard as possible to put in a performance next weekend at Farnham which results in a different outcome. The mood in the changing room at the final whistle was quietly reflective but as with all sport there is always next week. Nothing can be done about last Saturday, everything can be done about next Saturday. Glass half full is always better.

The start of the game suggested Blues were going to be competitive. From the kick off Ashley Doel and Duncan Craigen carried hard and made some inroads, Robin Swann had a great run out of defence to set up a strong attacking position and it appeared Wimborne were struggling to settle into any sort of rhythm due to the pressure being exerted by Blues. Confidence seemed to be high when Blues opted for a midfield scrum after being awarded a free kick and from this position, Kris Ford put Will Osborne through a gap with a well timed pass. It all looked good. And then any rhythm that was missing from the Wimborne game in the first ten minutes kicked in. The visitors won a penalty and with a strong wind at their back found a long range touch. Suddenly Blues had some defending to do. A double tackle saved a try but Wimborne continued to attack and made a lot of ground with their multi phase play and inside ball from their ten causing some difficulties for Blues. Another Wimborne penalty, more defensive pressure for Blues to deal with, but deal with it they did and Jamie Futcher made a great run out of defence and soon after Robin Swann did likewise. For twenty five minutes playing against a gusty wind Blues were managing the conditions well but then a strong run through the middle by Wimborne had Blues scrambling back and they eventually ran out of bodies to defend their line. Seven nil to Wimborne. Three minutes later Blues scored their own opening try, a chip through by Toby Thorne, some good feet from GRS, Toby getting the ball back and putting Will Osborne in for the score. Man of the match Dan Thorne, who led by example with his defensive display all afternoon, kicked the conversion. The restart proved to be disastrous for Blues. A high kick, swirling in the wind made it difficult for Blues to secure the ball and the error led directly to Wimborne scoring their second try to take the score to 7-14. Three tries in six minutes and there was to be one more in the offing for the visitors before half time. Blues at this stage were under a lot of pressure and without the luxury of being able to kick effectively out of defence because of the wind, at times they forced some long passes which did not go to hand. To compound matters a number of penalties were given away and one of these was a reverse penalty for entering the maul from the side to stop Wimborne securing quick ball. With half time approaching Wimborne opted for the three points from this penalty to take a ten point lead and almost immediately another penalty given away resulted in a Wimborne attacking lineout, from which they scored their third try. Half time, Blues 7-24 adrift.

Blues came out of the second half with a lot of work to do and the first twenty minutes of the half saw them have their best period of the game. Firstly Dan Thorne kicked a penalty to claw back three points and soon after Kris Ford went over for a try after he cut back across the grain to set up an attacking maul. The ball came back to him and he bustled his way over. Another successful Dan Thorne conversion took Blues to within one score of the visitors and four minutes later Blues were level at 24 apiece. A cross field kick by Toby Thorne was gathered by Michael Klichovicz and with Toby running a great support line he touched down for Blues third try. Much excitement and anticipation all round Monks Lane. Unfortunately this was not to last very long and after being dominated for the first twenty minutes of the half, Wimborne regrouped, reduced their penalty count and coupled with Blues falling off increasingly more tackles, the visitors scored two tries within two minutes to take the score to 24-36. And the pressure kept coming, and the tries kept coming. Two more in fact before the final whistle to make the score at the end 24-48.

Well done Wimborne on a good win, well done Sebastian Burgess on making your debut start for Blues, thank you to referee Simon Long, who seemed to have three assessors scrutinising his performance, thanks to all supporters and sponsors, thanks to the management and catering team for providing excellent service throughout the day and here's to next week, away at Farnham, final game before the Christmas break and then the 'big' match, the Annual Boxing Day encounter against Hungerford. And who knows, one day our local radio station may decide to do a live commentary of a Blues game and if anyone knows Ian Robertson to ask him to commentate, now that would be something......