They’re always tough games and Stortford are always a lively side both on and off the ball – they might have calmed down a bit from the team which had five yellow cards here a couple of years ago – but it’s generally a high-scoring encounter, bar earlier in the season!
They’re a good, well-run community club and I’ve made good friends with some of them over the years, particularly John Allanson, who writes quite often in The Rugby Paper and talks a lot of sense.
New charity and sponsor
I am also very happy to welcome New Life Special Care Babies as our charity partner for today.
They do incredible work and to be able to help them raise money this weekend is a great opportunity for us – we are so pleased to have them as our guests.
It’s also nice to have a new sponsor in Broadfield, and hopefully it will become a long and fruitful relationship as you never know when one needs a good lawyer!
I’d like to thank Terry Wright at Vale & West – one of our longer-standing sponsors – for the introduction, and I always bang on about how we’re looking to build ties with local companies and the more the merrier, especially because some of our existing ones, myself included, are getting on a bit!
Lucy’s success
It has also been wonderful for the club to see our former Mini Lucy Simpson score her first Premiership try and then gain an England Under 20s call-up recently.
Fair play to her and I wish her and all the family the very best in the journey – it’s an amazing achievement because it’s a .0 per cent of those who start playing who ever get to that sort of level.
Finally, we are now into the business end of the season with one point in it, and it’s going to be a fascinating run-in.
We’d probably have been happy with where we are at the start of the season, but having lost our four games by a total 10 points, we could be further ahead.
Big finish ahead
But it’s very narrow margins and this week will be no exception – any slip-up could be very costly.
We’ve said it so many times, but this league is so competitive – on their day anybody can beat the top teams and you only have to look at Esher recently for proof of that.
Similarly, Rotherham coming into the league are right in the title mix and they could surprise everybody.
Because of this I urge the Ramily to come out and stick with us to the end of the season, because it could yet be our most successful campaign ever.
