This initial “Tour” was instigated by Charlie and Mike deciding that it would be a bit of a wheeze if we had a weekend away. As we already had an annual fixture with South Staffs Water it made sense to find another water authority to play. For some unknown reason we targeted North East Water in Newcastle and Charlie phoned them up to challenge them to a game and was put in touch with Roger Gibb, who turned out to be a smashing bloke who not only sorted out the venue but our accommodation as well.

In the coming months we gradually assembled a team, booked a mini-bus and made final arrangements. Full of confidence and on the back of three straight midweek league wins we set off bright and early on the Saturday morning for the fixture later that day. By the time we reached the Wrexham by-pass, a distance of some two miles Jonesy had consumed three ham butties and opened a tin of lager, which set the tone for the whole weekend. After several re-fuelling stops we arrived in Newcastle around lunchtime. We met Roger who directed us to our digs (Betty’s) in Whitley Bay. We were a little suspicious at the start of the game when their opening batsmen introduced each other! They had definitely over-estimated the opposition. Northeast amassed 232 runs for 9 wickets from their 40 overs. Charlie was the top wicket taker with 4 for 60 off eight overs! The highlight of the innings was Paj’s one handed, over-the-head catch on the boundary. Our reply lasted 25 overs and the innings closed on 76. Steve top-scored with 18, extras second with 14 and Paj had two innings of 0 and 0 not out! The scorebook sums it up as under result it states “stuffing!”.

We drowned our sorrows in Whitley Bay (the Blackpool of the Northeast). Steve had a nasty encounter with some green 20-20, which turned him the same colour on Sunday!

Despite the dismal result we thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and decided we would return next season.