Until this season I must confess to rarely using anything other than my own car for away trips having consigned memories of travel by coach to the compartment in my brain marked "Student life". But back in late August I decided to break with convention and spend the season on the road with the Press Gang. I am glad I did.

As the National Division One season commenced in early September 2007 the Press Gang themselves were sailing into uncharted waters as they began their first full season back on the road following their rebirth earlier that year.

With a new Committee at the helm and the welcome short haul up the A30 to Polson Bridge for the season curtain raiser against the Cornish All Blacks, excitement and expectations were high.

Two coaches were chartered on a day when one ended up unexpectedly sightseeing along the north coast, whilst the other came perilously close to giving the team bus a Volvo-sized enema as they neared the ground together.

The choreography was however perfect, with the team and the supporters arriving in perfect synchronised harmony. The Pirates won and everyone returned back west afterwards happy and fulfilled, if not a tad concerned by a lacklustre team performance. Marshy and Curnow were mentioned in dispatches for their services to the British cider industry.

The day spent trekking east to Monks Lane, Newbury will be remembered for events at the back of the bus. (Got your attention now, haven`t I?!) With the toilet suddenly blocked, fresh water supplies exhausted and an unwanted amphibious visitor refusing to go away drastic action was called for.

Dotcom sacrificed a quantity of beer to evict the miscreant and after the drivers bravely rectified the blockage in a lonely lay-by just off the M4 there would have been barely a blocked sinus within a three mile radius.

If you ever watched the Dambusters movie just visualise the special effects at the end as the Mohne Dam explodes and you will get the picture. Marshy promptly woke up and sang a rendition of "Wee Willy`s lost his Marly" in celebration of the event (the fixing of the loo, not the Dambusters raid) before shutting his eyes and returning to blissful unconsciousness.

The characters on board on these often epic away-days are just as, if not more, important than the result on the field of play.

By October a pattern had emerged with Blazey diligently providing breakfast of high octane local apple juice, Dotcom never sleeping, Marshy being good for a song (any song) without the need to rehearse, Yog embarking on a diet which would transform him by the end of the season, whilst the girls from Zelah took on the joint roles of Wine Critics and Agony Aunts

Uncle Orange on the other hand pedalled items of cultural interest from the over-worked memory of his mobile phone. In certain regions of the world his art would make him a very wealthy man indeed. In many ways it was a curious social mixture of largely strangers but united behind the common cause of the Cornish Pirates it worked a treat.

Within a handful of trips the match itself had become just one factor in an all day party.

Continued >>>

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