With nothing much else going on at the club over the Christmas break, the Social team took the opportunity to take over the main pitch for a game against their counterparts from Windemere.

The ground was enveloped in a thick mist. I think there had been suggestions earlier in the week that a football game may be in doubt due to fog. No problems here, just gave an excuse why some passes may not go to hand – or occasionally the hand of the opposition. It of course may not have been fog at all, just the heat generated by the thirty (or possibly closer to sixty) players.

The game was due to kick off at 4.00, but started about ten minutes earlier (they had clearly been waiting for me to arrive).

Windermere appeared to be taking it very seriously, as they had a team huddle before kick-off.

The Kendal team went off at a fast pace. Too fast ? Could they keep it up ? We later found they only needed to do twenty minutes before there was a shift change due. Not sure they all made it ?

The Kendal team opened the scoring after five minutes, Windermere ball was turned over and moved wide with slick handling putting the Kendal No.9 (wasn’t James Gough) over.

In the selected team Liam Hayton had been at 10 and Zane Butler had been at named in the back row. They clearly realised this was a mistake and swapped places.

The score was doubled five minutes later, Craig Hine went over (I think – I’ll blame the fog if it was a second row !).

Under the blanket of fog, the Kendal selectors had clearly smuggled some “ringers” on. They had a second row who looked remarkably similar to one who had made a cameo appearance as a replacement for the First XV at Blackburn last Saturday – difficult to blend into the background (even in the fog) when you are 6’6.

Five minutes later the Kendal team added a third try. Windermere had scrum ball but a handing error was quickly gathered by a Kendal player, who got the ball to James Gough who scampered in (still very fast over a short distance).

At this point Windermere had hardly left their half, even their restarts had failed to make the distance.

The Windermere bench (confusingly dressed in Black & Amber tops) were certainly taking it too seriously, but their players were very relaxed, clearly realising, as so often happens at Christmas, the opposition batteries would soon run down.

The Kendal XV did add a fourth try before the first interval. There was a good run from the wing, who got the ball to Zane Butler, who released a player outside him for the score.

This saw the first refreshment break, and a re-organisation of the Kendal team with Tadhg Butler one of those coming on. It appeared the criteria for getting a rest was based in height, as at the re-start he was surrounded by players who seemed a least a foot shorter than him – maybe he had come straight from playing the giant in Panto. He also took the restarts and did rather well (certainly compared with his opposite numbers earlier efforts).

The change of personnel also signalled a change in game, as after the first sector being played almost exclusively at the river end, it was now all Windermere on the attack at the car park end.

After a lot of pressure on the Kendal line, Windermere finally got an opening score seven minutes into the second quarter, then quickly added a second, then a third, which became the first to be successfully converted.

Just before the end of the quarter Kendal widen the gap again with a fifth try, finished with a few side steps (I think) by Captain Kie Hitchcox.

With the mist/fog getting thicker it became increasingly difficult to follow the game, especially as both teams seemed to be playing towards their adoring fans on the balcony, so the game seemed to be played on the clubhouse side (of course those on the balcony may have thought all the action was on the dugout side, and the reality was both teams had gone off to the bar)

Windermere seemed to pull a score back with a try in the far corner at the river end (at least they all went back to halfway so I assumed they had scored).

James Gough made another good run, but the effort saw him pull a muscle, and so he was forced off for the rest of the game. Reece Tomlinson later told him if it felt like being shot in the leg it wasn’t too bad (you’ll have to ask Reece how he knows what it is like to be shot in the leg!)

Reece did all the hard work for the sixth try, only to be finally be hauled down on the line, but someone else scored from short range, and the first Kendal successful kick went over.

Windermere pulled a try back early in the final quarter then withstood a long spell of Kendal pressure. They finished the game on the attack, looking for the equalising/winning score but it didn’t come.

With the Second XV struggling to get a team on the field at times this season, hopefully Liam had some recruitment forms in his back pocket to sign a few of the less mature participants up – just need to remember to pace themselves and not go off so fast in a real game.

Thanks to all involved for the entertainment (including a real referee who somehow managed to keep everything under control and the ball moving).

Of course on the night there was only one winner – THE FOG!