Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

Last night’s loss against Agen was hard to take. Gutless capitulations are among the most awful losses to contend with but the defeat in France, brave, heroic and underpinned by gritty defence and exhilarating attack, seems almost harder to bear. I was convinced yesterday evening, and remain resolute in my opinion today, that the officials cost us the match with a series of shockingly inconsistent and deplorable decisions. Gloucester deserved at least two penalty tries (and, crucially, one towards the end), an Agen forward should have been shown a red card for holding the Italian behemoth Nieto by his flowing tresses while continually punching his gnarled visage, and Michael Tindall was binned immediately for entering a ruck at the side while French players, although penalised for similar and worse offences, were spared the yellow-hued punishment indicator. I dislike the city club losing any match but I feel especially miserable about the Agen defeat. We didn’t deserve this. I sense we were cheated and that hurts.

On a happier note, I observe that the main Gloucester library in Brunswick Road is hosting another mighty sale of CDs and DVDs on Saturday 27th January. I shall be there and I hope to have saved enough of my pocket money by then to really make the most of the opportunity.