It was twenty players a side and the Rest Of The World team won the toss of the coin and elected to bat first. The visitors started well and had the Aussie side worried from the outset with boundaries being made at will. The Great Gregos lived up to his reputation with the bat before holing out with an uncharacteristic shot out deep and was out for 25. “I decided to give some of the other blokes a bat…..” Gregos commented to the media throng.

At 3/75 in the thrid innings, the ROW looked in a solid position with Bernie Kelly being the first player of the day to notch the maximum 30 runs per player. “Gee, that was easy…..” Kelly said with a wry smile. Another King Brother, Damien helped out with a steady 17 runs as did Cowboy and Tinkerbelle. The bowling from the Aussie was improving and started to restrict the opposition. Darren Warrener was a demon with the ball as was Darren Flynn and Pete Johnno as the ROW began to slow their run rate. Eventually they succumbed to the Aussie’s with a very respectable 204 runs in their allotted innings.

It was then off for a BBQ lunch at the Doggy’s Clubhouse before the Australian fightback begun. Chasing a total of 205 to win, the Australian side had a tentative start and looked in a bit of trouble early on. The Antipodeans innings were back on track with solid batting from Paul Staunton, Brendan Paine and Gunner. Darren Mann and Mita bowled tightly to their opponents however Stavros failed to live up to his own hype. “…..it is the wrong type of pitch to be bowling on” Stavros explained. Deano and Notso batted well to keep the scoreboard ticking over but it was still very close.

Towards the tail of their innings and with the match in the balance, the King Brothers, Michael and Jamie fought hard to score the winning runs for the match. The Aussie eventually all out for 216 giving them a hard fought 12 run win over the ROW. “It is not the win I’m excited about, just the day itself…..” Skip McGrath quipped to FOX Sport commentators.

It was then onto the Doggy’s Clubhouse for a relaxing drink, join in a raffle and to sing Happy Birthday to Ben and Kira. The Presentation saw the Committee, Skip, Tim and Cowboy being given some personalized gifts for their effort in running the club. Then it was the presentation of the ‘ASHES’ to the Australian side that had played for their country so proudly. So moved were some of the players that a tear could be seen rolling down their face. “…..this really is a huge triumph and I am deeply moved” Captain Flynnie shouted to the raucous crowd. It was a sentiment echoed by all the players on the winning side.

The Newport Nasties Rugby Club would like to thank all those players and spectators who turned up or donated to the cause for the day. A huge thanks to Darren Flynn and Glenn ‘Dim-Sim’ Farrell for organizing the hugely successful day and to Bruce Killingworth for giving up his time to Umpire the game. Also thanks go to Jenn Johnson and Jo Guberina for all their effort in organizing the kid’s activities and to Andette Flynn and Heidi Farrell for their time and shopping skills during the week. All in all the day raised around $2000 for Children’s Cancer Research.

Onwards & Upwards.