After the heavy loss at Wasps even the wildest optimist would be thinking ‘now if we can get a bonus point or even two out of these games we will have done well’.
So its quite a welcome surprise that here we are with two wins and those eight very valuable points that have lifted us five points clear of the bottom of the Zurich Premiership table and an air of confidence about the place that we have a better than average chance of beating the drop and playing ZP rugby next season.
It is still of course all in our own hands and we are not out of the woods yet but a win in our next match against Quins at the Gardens in two weeks could see us sitting pretty given who basement side Leeds still have to play. The Yorkshire club have the daunting task of playing three teams fighting for the top three, Tigers, Bath and Gloucester plus fellow strugglers Harlequins and I am I sure they would snatch your hand off if you offered them a swap of our run in of Quins, Bath, Newcastle and Worcester. Indeed there is a distinct possibility that by the time of the Worcester game on the last day of the season both sides might already be safe, and as tickets are already as rare as hens teeth, that might not be such a bad thing.
However as they say it’s not over till the fat lady sings and there may well be a few more twists and turns yet but, like probably a lot of you Saints supporters out there, I have been sleeping far better over the last few nights.
To the game itself it was again a week when each and every player stood up to be counted, the forwards fought tooth and nail while the defence kept the Cherry and Whites at bay for most of the afternoon. Special mention has to go to Shane Drahm who controlled the game with confidence, lets hope he puts his name on that dotted line to remain a Saint in the coming days.
As for the crowd on Saturday it’s not that often that the Shed are silenced but entering the last quarter they had all but given up trying to drive on their team.
They livened up slightly for their two late tries but by then the writing was on the wall and the Saints had the points secure. The Glos supporters were magnaminous in defeat though and many leaving the ground and in the bars afterwards commented how well Saints had played. Though they were disappointed in their own teams display they were gracious enough praise the opposition which given the one eyed reputation of the Kingsholm crowd is something a minority of fans from certain other clubs should take note of.
There still is however no love lost from Gloucester to their local West Country rivals. One Glos fan commented to me in the pub afterwards “You were lucky today”, feeling slightly aggrieved that he might be suggesting our victory was not well deserved I asked him why, his reply made me chuckle. “Well if you had come here last week this pub was full of blooming Barf supporters!”
They do seem to have an affinity with us though and Saints supporters also did themselves proud on Saturday with groups in both the Shed and the new Buildbase Stand and various other small pockets cheering the lads on to the very end of the well deserved victory. It was of course well worth the journey and fingers crossed one we will be making again next season.
MOBBS - A RETURN 'HOME'?
Tonight (Wednesday) the Mobbs Memorial game between the East Midlands and the Barbarians takes place at Bedfords, Goldington Road. KO 7:00pm if you can make it. Old Northamptonians centre Adam Civil, who played in last year's game and Kettering centre Paul Baird make up the local contingent in a largely Bedford Blues dominated side while the big attraction of the night will be Bobby Skinstad playing for the BaaBaas. Proceeds from the game are used to develop youth rugby in East Midlands.
As is the tradition before the game their will be a wreath laying at the Bedford War Memorial on the Embankment at 4:00pm. It being the first time the Mobbs game has been held at Bedford since 1957 there will be no service at the actual Mobbs Memorial statue in Abington Square and it is probably just as well as last week due to continued vandalism the council were left with no option but to seal this area off. I’ve always thought over the last few years as the traffic has steadily built up to isolate the island where the Garden of Remembrance now stands that for most people it has become a forgotten part of town, not only for Saints & England captain Edgar Mobbs but for the hundreds of other names listed as Northampton war dead.
It’s a sad reflection of the times we live in and maybe it is time for a rethink and with regards to the Mobbs Memorial statue wouldn’t it be an ideal opportunity to bring Edgar ‘back home’ so to speak. With the current Gardens War Memorial being moved this summer for the new building work would it be possible to have the two combined to not only commemorate Saints fallen but those of Edgar Mobbs sportsman battalion in which so many local me served in the First World War.
Of course there would be some financial cost involved but the original Mobbs Memorial itself, which at that time stood on Market Square, was paid for by public donations. It is surely not outside the realms of possibility that such a subscription fund be set up again?
So its quite a welcome surprise that here we are with two wins and those eight very valuable points that have lifted us five points clear of the bottom of the Zurich Premiership table and an air of confidence about the place that we have a better than average chance of beating the drop and playing ZP rugby next season.
It is still of course all in our own hands and we are not out of the woods yet but a win in our next match against Quins at the Gardens in two weeks could see us sitting pretty given who basement side Leeds still have to play. The Yorkshire club have the daunting task of playing three teams fighting for the top three, Tigers, Bath and Gloucester plus fellow strugglers Harlequins and I am I sure they would snatch your hand off if you offered them a swap of our run in of Quins, Bath, Newcastle and Worcester. Indeed there is a distinct possibility that by the time of the Worcester game on the last day of the season both sides might already be safe, and as tickets are already as rare as hens teeth, that might not be such a bad thing.
However as they say it’s not over till the fat lady sings and there may well be a few more twists and turns yet but, like probably a lot of you Saints supporters out there, I have been sleeping far better over the last few nights.
To the game itself it was again a week when each and every player stood up to be counted, the forwards fought tooth and nail while the defence kept the Cherry and Whites at bay for most of the afternoon. Special mention has to go to Shane Drahm who controlled the game with confidence, lets hope he puts his name on that dotted line to remain a Saint in the coming days.
As for the crowd on Saturday it’s not that often that the Shed are silenced but entering the last quarter they had all but given up trying to drive on their team.
They livened up slightly for their two late tries but by then the writing was on the wall and the Saints had the points secure. The Glos supporters were magnaminous in defeat though and many leaving the ground and in the bars afterwards commented how well Saints had played. Though they were disappointed in their own teams display they were gracious enough praise the opposition which given the one eyed reputation of the Kingsholm crowd is something a minority of fans from certain other clubs should take note of.
There still is however no love lost from Gloucester to their local West Country rivals. One Glos fan commented to me in the pub afterwards “You were lucky today”, feeling slightly aggrieved that he might be suggesting our victory was not well deserved I asked him why, his reply made me chuckle. “Well if you had come here last week this pub was full of blooming Barf supporters!”
They do seem to have an affinity with us though and Saints supporters also did themselves proud on Saturday with groups in both the Shed and the new Buildbase Stand and various other small pockets cheering the lads on to the very end of the well deserved victory. It was of course well worth the journey and fingers crossed one we will be making again next season.
MOBBS - A RETURN 'HOME'?
Tonight (Wednesday) the Mobbs Memorial game between the East Midlands and the Barbarians takes place at Bedfords, Goldington Road. KO 7:00pm if you can make it. Old Northamptonians centre Adam Civil, who played in last year's game and Kettering centre Paul Baird make up the local contingent in a largely Bedford Blues dominated side while the big attraction of the night will be Bobby Skinstad playing for the BaaBaas. Proceeds from the game are used to develop youth rugby in East Midlands.
As is the tradition before the game their will be a wreath laying at the Bedford War Memorial on the Embankment at 4:00pm. It being the first time the Mobbs game has been held at Bedford since 1957 there will be no service at the actual Mobbs Memorial statue in Abington Square and it is probably just as well as last week due to continued vandalism the council were left with no option but to seal this area off. I’ve always thought over the last few years as the traffic has steadily built up to isolate the island where the Garden of Remembrance now stands that for most people it has become a forgotten part of town, not only for Saints & England captain Edgar Mobbs but for the hundreds of other names listed as Northampton war dead.
It’s a sad reflection of the times we live in and maybe it is time for a rethink and with regards to the Mobbs Memorial statue wouldn’t it be an ideal opportunity to bring Edgar ‘back home’ so to speak. With the current Gardens War Memorial being moved this summer for the new building work would it be possible to have the two combined to not only commemorate Saints fallen but those of Edgar Mobbs sportsman battalion in which so many local me served in the First World War.
Of course there would be some financial cost involved but the original Mobbs Memorial itself, which at that time stood on Market Square, was paid for by public donations. It is surely not outside the realms of possibility that such a subscription fund be set up again?
No comments:
Post a Comment