Nah, this was all about crossing the A4 and the Thames Valley Invitational League Division B third/fourth placed teams battling it out for local bragging rights.

Although having said that, a nice early 1 o'clock kick off meant we could all get into the bar to watch the games on the goggle box later.

Anyway, the game.

With the kick off beautifully taken by, errr me, followed up by a bullocking jog to send the first tackler sprawling and the rest of the pack swarming in like a pack of swarming things, the tone was set for a half which the VIPS dominated.

I can't remember the order of the three tries we scored but Ben Barrows at 7 got 2 and Tom Haffenden took his hands out of his pockets to get the other.

I can’t even remember much about how the tries were scored except for Ben's take of a long line out ball on their 22 followed by an explosion of pace and footwork that saw him over the line past the flailing defenders.

There were other opportunities. One break away led to a series of 5m scrums that eventually ended with penalty in front of the posts converted by skipper Aaron – just reward for Colin, Blatchy and Nick in the front row and for Tom and, errrrrr me, in the second row.

The scrum had struggled a bit at the start of the half but got better as the half went on.

While on the subject of the scrum, has anyone considered the irony of Blatchy telling people, i.e. Tom and I, to get low? On him? How is that possible? There must be some violation of the laws of nature/physics/gravity involved there. Or perhaps a fifth dimension – lower than Blatchy.

But we love him really, especially when he is turning ball over in the rucks.

As the scoreboard ticked up, as the restarts we cleanly taken, the Reading 10 decided to vary it a bit. A quick change of direction saw Andy McCrory carrying the ball back while the forwards watched the action with interest.

So that’s what it’s like in the backs.

After another VIP score, time for plan C from their 10… a long kick to skipper Aaron who returned it with interest…no joy there either for Reading.

Reading had the upper hand in the lineouts and had a very effective maul but could not make their possession count. Towards the end of the first half Reading looked to be back in the game with a period of sustained pressure on the VIPs line, including a last gasp tackle into touch in the corner ending the half.

The half ended with the VIPs down to 14, that’d be errrrr me, but 20-nil up.

The second half started promisingly with the Reading receiver dropping the ball, but apart from some outstanding defending towards the end of the half it was all Reading with the hosts seemingly unable to string together a sustained period of pressure.

With Paul being borrowed from the Horde game on the adjacent pitch, the VIPs were back to full strength and juggled their pack. With three stone missing from the VIPs pack, the second half scrums were harder but the pack’s mobility was increased hugely!

Reading kept it much tighter in the second half and were rewarded with two tries. For a while it looked like a stunning recovery might be possible but the VIPs were saved by some outstanding defence, Reading’s inability to convert their tries and numerous injury stoppages which must have interrupted their momentum.

While Reading had the subs to replace their injured, the VIPs were hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and the skin of Paul’s eyebrow.

With the final whistle blown, the league table showed that the two teams are equal on match points but separated only by points difference.

Much like that other game over the Severn then.