Sat 18 Mar 2023
The league programme finished an eleven try spectacular with both sides throwing the ball around with a enthusiasm that entertained the healthy crowd.
The opening passages set the tone, frantic running all over the pitch showed lots of endeavour but little in the way of penetration from either side and it took a couple of converted penalty kicks from Will Spires to calm things down a little.
A clearance kick from R was fumbled by the BC full back but not noticed by the referee, he took advantage of his free pass to make far more ground than he should have which in turn led to an overlap for BC to score the opening try.
R slowed the game down, their pack starting to dominate. While slowly driving the opposition back, gaps were created allowing Harvey Habgood to score a wingers try. Directly from the restart Matt Allen went on one of his trademark rumbles, drawing in the defence, the ball found its way to Aaron Atkinson who skipped through the tackles and sprinted unopposed 60m to score under the posts.
Expecting the half time whistle to blow at any minute R seemed to relax at the next kick off , but BC took advantage of the space they were allowed and scored another simple try. 16-10 at the break
BC were reduced to 14 in the second half when a senseless piece of thuggery was spotted and rewarded with a red card. R's response was to drive harder in the pack and following a series of drives Mike Allen dotted down for the third which WS converted.
But BC wouldn't lie down, their default tactic was to move the ball around as much as possible, stubborn tackling kept them at bay until their centre found a gap and took advantage of it.
Training nights are spent practicing moves and drills but the next try could never have been rehearsed. Prop Mike Adams ran an angled line and put a delicate chip kick into space, second row Craig Martin reacted first and redirected the kick towards the posts and dived on it, improvisation at it's finest.
This was followed by a try straight out off the training ground when a dominant scrum provided the platform for Spires to feed Will Heath who in turn fed Jon Beale who went between the sticks, both converted by WS.
Yet still BC came back, scoring two late tries either side of R's sixth try scored by Mike Adams.
For constantly keeping the ball alive and feeding forwards and backs alike, James Mills was awarded Player of the match.
Overall the R pack had the edge and the team's tackling proved to be enough but conceding five tries was a disappointment. However the win lifted R off the bottom of the table and kept the momentum going. No game on 25th but the N Mids Vase started the week after with a trip to Bredon Star on 1st Ap which will be followed by a home game v Pershore on 15th Ap. Group winners progress.
Special mention to the 2nd team on Saturday, after a season of struggling for numbers it was most encouraging to have a social side out. They may have come off second best against an always strong Stourbridge Grasshoppers but a great time was had by all.
...and finally an extra special mention should go to First team centre Jon Beale who was selected to represent Worcester and Hereford v Shropshire in the rain midweek.
.jpg?v=638051651285546189){kind=link}
