The Banger Colts delivered their best performance ever in the SEA Challenge Cup to edge the Selangor Dog 29 points to 19 thriller at the Kasersart Grounds last Saturday afternoon.

Both teams set out to play an attacking brand of rugby. The Colts threw the kitchen sink at the Dogs in the frentic first quarter, and managed two well worked tries for their efforts. In the second quarter, the Colts briefly lost their grip on the game and the Dogs exploited chances that came their way, grabbing two tries from Banger handling errors.

This season, the team management has worked on the Colts game resilience and it came to the fore Saturday afternoon in the third quarter. The response was impressive. The Colts brilliantly unleashing prolonged attacks, maintaining possession through multiple phases, punching holes in the Dog backline and moving the ball at pace to stretch the defence. It was the Colts at their scintillating best.

The Colts discipline was exemplary in the face of some innovative attack by Selangor. Every man in the blue, red and white shirt, stepped up. Adrien Simon and Roberto Goulo cajoled the Colts in the final stanza when the team were tiring. The players responded and lifted their performance yet again. Sopo and his brother Kilea both played blinders tackling hard and were a threat with the ball in hand all afternoon.

Max and Adrien also had mentionable games working the backline on their terms. Selangor are a competitive side and the score line did not in anyway diminish their efforts. The Colts were made to work hard for the win.

After the game it was few sideline beers then back to the Tenderloin clubrooms. A special Banger night followed that will be remembered by many. The players managed to get through four kegs of Heineken and that was before that went out on the town. Stories are still coming in

A composite team of ten Old Bangkok Bangers and Pattaya Panthers players united to enter a team in recent Phuket International Tens 2013. This was the first year the Bangers had not enter a side in the history of the tournament. Enthusiastically, the rugby hybrids arrived a couple of day before the tournament enjoying a mix of surfing at Karon Beach and ambient nightlife. It was a Buddhist holiday on Friday, so no partying and a quite night for all.

The early to bed night paid off, with the lads winning their first match against Greyland Goose  21-0, thanks to a strong pack led by Sven. The following two games however, were challenging with narrow losses recorded against the Dubai Wasps 10-0 and Singapore Wanderers 10-0.

After Saturday nights tournament party antics, the Sundays morning early wake up was a test. Never the less, the team were at the ground for the early kick off of 9 am. The late night had been too rough and the boys suffered a heavy loss in their contest against the Japanese Melanins 24-5. The team were now in the plate semi final against the Alor Star Blues from Malaysia. They started well leading 5-0 after a Kurt's break away try. However, the Alor Star Blues did not lay down and in the dying seconds of the game secured the necessary points after a kick & chase to score. Final score: 7-5. Unfortunately the team was out of the tournament

All those who participated enjoyed the tournament and keen to sign up again for next year. The new sports stadium was a real bonus and in big improvement on grounds used in previous tournaments

Bangkok Japanese produced a strong performance last Sunday to hold on to a win against the Banger Colts 17- 12. It was a game the Bangers could have won. They were architects of their own downfall. That's not to take any merit away from the Bangkok Japanese win who on the day were tactifully more astute and determined.

It was new squad and a new season for the Colts, with 27 players, a mixture of new and veteran players on the sideline. A dilemma a coach of the Bangers has never had for some time. The goal to give everyone game time counted against the Colts with the team never feeling comfortable with the on field mix.

The pack played well however, in the the loose, had difficulty handing the boundless energy of the Japanese forwards. The Colt backs also had their frustrations against their elusive opposition. There were some good moments with Kilea and Adrien Simon playing well rescuing the team on a number of occasions. They were both dangerous with ball in hand. While crucial breaks eluded them, the crowd will remember Kilea's try. It was special.

On occasions the Colts grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck managing in the second half to camp close to the Japanese line however, they couldn't engineer the crossover. The Japanese produce desperate defence to keep the Colts out.They soaked up what the Bangers had to throw at them.

The Colts were left to reflect on what could have been, but really only have themselves to blame for poor execution and too many mistakes under pressure. The Bangkok Japanese needed to run down the clock and secure the win and they did just that. The Colts will lick their wounds, learn from this and move on. Final Score Bangkok Japanese 17, Bangkok Colts 12