Charlie Sacarello Memorial Match

Sunday October 21st 2007

Worthians versus Stonyhurst Old Boys

Charlie Sacarello (B '97) was a much-loved Worth boy who died shortly after finishing his A-levels in a tragic accident which left hundred of his friends and family members at a great loss. He had many friends and family who attended Stonyhurst College- our Jesuit brothers up in Lancashire. So as a mark of remembrance, hundreds of people me up on his birthday, ten years since the tragic event to celebrate his life and what better way to do so than playing the game he loved so well and, annoyingly, was so good at...

The day kicked off with hundreds attending a mass held by Fr. Luke, filling a good half of the church which is certainly more than expected during a half term break- the amount of friends and family (from both schools) was simply overwhelming, and it was truly great to see so many people reunited after such a long time on what fittingly turned out to be the sunniest day of the year so far.

As Worth and Stonyhurst are not on the same schools rugby circuit both teams went into the game not really knowing what to expect from the other. The selection criteria was to try and reunite as many of the 1st XV of the 1996-1997 season that Charlie belonged to, and of course to include family members who had been to Worth. This particular team of that season remains one of the most successful of all time at Worth, and so Stonyhurst's task was never going to be an easy one. It was apparent before kick off that this game had a little more edge than most WOBS fixtures as there were several egos at stake, with months of banter between teams preceding the game as to who was in fact the better rugby-playing school. Certainly Stonyhurst have an incredible pedigree, but this match had far more riding on it than your normal game.  Stonyhurst sang a rousing yet out-of-tune ‘Pater Noster' to try and intimidate the Worth side (I believe one player burst out laughing at the sound of it, so I'm not sure how well it worked), and there followed a one minute silence which was very moving, considering close to 250 people were watching.

For eighty minutes both teams smashed each other! Each player that stepped onto the pitch was totally committed and passionate about wearing their school colours. 

Worth had a simple but effective game plan, soak up the pressure, work tirelessly in the forwards lead by the Stephen Ebbett (R '97) and throw it wide when the time was right to the pace of Nick Vasquez (G '97) and Teddy Sacarello (B '06), Charlie's cousin and brother respectively. Stonyhurst as expected came out all guns blazing, but couldn't hold off Worth's relentless and superbly organised attack that was camped deep in their half. Rewardingly, a try in the top right corner ensued, with the conversion narrowly missed by Sam Barnett (C '97). Stonyhurst continued to battle hard in the first half, whilst Steve Whyte's (B '98) spotless throwing in at the line-out was accurately hitting the jumpers at two and four, proving Ben Duke (C '97) isn't in fact as heavy as he looks after all! The forwards battled away incessantly, with notable carries from Mic Cataldo (S '97) and James Burt (C '98) gaining yards but frustratingly being stopped by poor refereeing and hard hits from the Stonyhurst pack. Most unfortunately for Worth, our ‘safe-as-houses' fly-half Sam Barnett limped off with a hip strain, which is testament to his hard work in National League Two with Westcombe Park. The half was predominantly locked in a stalemate save the two penalties apiece before the half time whistle blew.

Changes were made and the same commitment followed in the second half. Matt Pardo deftly slotted in at fly-half replacing Sam, but he too was soon sidelined and Worth began to tire psychologically, and suddenly Stonyhurst were on the front foot and looking confident with ball in hand, as well as stealing ball (both legally and otherwise) underneath the referee's nose which their backs soon scored form. Two almost identical tries were scored on the left wing which went through several players' hands with a few dubious passes in between. In the space of five minutes Stonyhurst had turned the game around and now lead 13-8.

The onslaught from Worth soon arrived. For nearly ten minutes Stonyhurst stood strong on their try line- to Worth's credit we gave it everything but to no avail, with Stonyhurst's  pack standing strong when it was needed the most. Some darting and direct hole-punching by Pete Hilton (G '98) and Ebbett in the forwards, as well as Richard ‘Gooch' Cottrell (R '98) in the backs were frustratingly halted by a referee who seemed intent on disallowing a free-flowing continuous game. Alas it was too late, and for Stonyhurst the game was won.

A huge thank you to Father Luke, Des Calnan and all those spectators and supporters (both friends and family) of such a great event. So great, in fact, that it is sure to become a yearly fixture. Get your boots out lads...

Rob Cottrell (R'97)