The last thing I wanted to be doing with my Sunday was to wake up at 6am to get to a bus to take me to the far west side of Wales. But that is what I did.
Bright and early on a Sunday, which was not very bright and way too early saw the Gloucestershire Gladiators start their 2023/24 campaign against the Welsh side, Tarannau Aberystwyth.
Going into the game, the Gladiators were favourites, having beaten Aber 44-0 last year. But you wouldn’t be able to tell that once I arrived at the meeting point. Everyone was quiet and distant from one another, be that the fact that this was a group of Uni students having to wake up early on a Sunday or what we came to find out later in the day, there was a sense of worry looming over the team.
Either way, the bus arrived, everyone accepting the three-and-a-half-hour journey of twists and turns – would the players even have stomachs left for the game by the time they got there?
As expected in early morning trips like this, after the first 30 minutes or so, there was no noise. Everyone was sleeping, or at least trying to sleep… I did join in with that quite early on.
The Glads arrived at their competitor’s home field, feeling like anything but Gladiators, it seemed. But they had time to shake that journey off. The words of the head coach before the journey being shown. “Beat the bus journey.” And it looked like everyone had made it through that first battle.
The setting for the match was what you’d expect from a coastal town in Wales. Lots of greenery, flowing hills, sheep… oh, and it was cold and windy, with the sea air proving its worth. But once again, it was something that didn’t seem to faze the team from Gloucestershire. “We’ve played in a lot worse’” one Glad exclaimed to the team.
The field itself was what you’d imagine an American Football pitch to look like in Britain. It got the job done. The surface was good, and the rain from the storms over the past week leading up to the game hadn’t turned it into a bog. Game on! Or so I thought.
I was surprised by how positive the team looked and how calm they were after the worrying looks that filled the faces in the morning. But my surprise was short-lived.
The looming worry in each player was taking a toll. The changing room could only be described as a kettle on the brink of boiling over. Screaming and shouting was all that could be heard from the changing rooms, and the odd bit of music that I could only describe as ‘annoying’. Teammates about to play for each other demanded things of one another like they were schoolchildren. This was the point where the Glads lost the game.
The team came out of the changing rooms, two-by-two, headed by the two captains. The stresses of the changing rooms still filled their faces. They line up and start their game day chant, but only with less enthusiasm than years prior. No one was ready for this game.
The whistle blew, and the game had begun. And from the off, it was clear to see that only one team had come to play. From start to finish, there were small glimmers of hope for the Gladiators, but nothing would come of it early on. They scored first, taking the lead at 0-6, but that would be the only points they would see.
The final whistle blew, finishing 12-6 to the home team, the team they beat 44-0 only a year prior. The mood was at its lowest. Tears were shown. No one could understand what went wrong. Players tried to speak up to give their thoughts on the game, but it was obvious that no one wanted to listen. The coaches gave their two pence, and the Glads were quickly back to the changing rooms, but only this time, no sound was heard from them, only of their rivals celebrating as the Glads should have been.
Back on the bus, three and a half hours later, the team arrived where the day started. Not much was said once they arrived. Everyone went off to forget the day completely. But as a sports team, that’s what you’ve got to do. Learn from the failures. Don’t let them eat away at you. Will this team be back to the standard they know they can be? Only time will tell.
