If Mint Bridge had been a golf course on Saturday, there would have been temporary greens, tees on mats and preferred lies.

The vital encounter with Newbury was played in the heaviest winter conditions experienced this year, and this dictated the character of the game.

A surface which resembles slow drying toffee creates an entirely different sort of contest; error strewn, forward oriented and low scoring.

In its turn this can be compelling and tense and has an attractiveness for the connoisseur that is altogether different from the disco rugby of early September.

Midway through the second half, creativity had all but become annulled by the conditions, and much of the game resembled a combination of Cumberland and Westmorland and Indian mud wrestling.

At this stage, position becomes more important then possession, and penalty awards take on undue importance.

For this reason, it was disappointing that we conceded unnecessary penalties around the tackle, rather then surrendering the ball and challenging the opposition to do something with it.

By doing so, we managed to give away a well-earned lead that might well have been extended either side of the interval.

Against Stourbridge, we conceded six penalties - within England's World Class Performance target of nine - against Newbury, it was three times that number.

Although these conditions have historically consititued a home advantage, I am not convinced that this is any longer the case.

Without a lumpy front five of agrophobic short yardage carriers, it is difficult to adjust from the firmer playing surfaces elsewhere to produce a different form of game in the mud.

To play on a national stage, we have had to develop

players and tactics that go beyond Cumbrian conditions. Many of our players have forged new dimensions on to their game to cope with faster conditions and different demands.

Mark Bowman is a good example of this. A bold fighter in trench-foot conditions, he has developed new width, vision and distribution skills, and is coming, belatedly, to the recognition that a pass count that equals a tackle count is not, necessarily, effeminate.

Home advantage is primarily in the ground atmosphere and vocal support.

The players and coaches have appreciated the loyalty of Mint Bridge regulars throughout the vicissitudes of a difficult season, and I think this is more important than the playing surface.

Certainly Newbury found an unwelcome cultural contrast from their comfort zone in the Thames Valley, and their own lavish facilities which resemble a motorway service station.

In the late evening on

Saturday, players from all of the club's three senior XVs were still assembled in licensed premises in the town, in time-honoured fashion.

Notwithstanding declining standards of articulacy and occasional failures to meet the challenge of remaining vertical, they were united by the unparalleled conviviality of rugby: by the unique contribution that this ridiculous game can make to the human spirit and the quality of life.

At a time when other national league clubs are contracting their clubs to a single team, we must recognise the importance of a robust programme of youth, recreational and social rugby.

This is not an alternative, but a supplement, to an elite team playing on a national stage, with facilities consistent with that status. We must aim to have it all.

February 14, 2003 10:30