Sat 25 Jan 2020, 15:00
Redditch Exiles 12 Harborne 2nds 43.
Played on 'the hill' with the familiar mud and thick thick grass the veterans of Redditch strolled out to play a team of 20yr olds from Harborne. Initially it looked as if the old heads would take control, using the slope their weight and their guile they dominated the opening stanzas and were rewarded with a penalty try when H could not cope with a ferocious driving maul.
However, that script was quickly torn up, the faster legs of the younger visitors soon began to take the upper hand. Five first half tries were run in, up the slope. Valiant tackling from everyone but especially Tim Aris , Duncan Davis and Mitchell Ferris keep the visitors at bay for a while, but they too often found the supporting runner who found the space to exploit the aged defence.
The second half looked to be ominous, with the Exiles tiring by the minute they ran the risk of being blitzed by the youngsters, but it did not happen that way. A change of game plan and positional changes saw Garry Mills revert to scrum half, his vast experience was then instrumental in keeping the eager visitors at bay. Slowly but surely the pack tucked the ball up their jumper and ground their way around the park, it was never going to be pretty nor win them the game but it immediately cut off the supply of ball and prevented the visitors from running wild.
Harborne only managed two tries after the break, capitalising on a dropped ball to run in from 50m and a speedy dash down the wing in the final minute. In between them Tim Aris made a trademark dart for the line for the second try.
Thanks go to Duncan Davis for getting the side out on the pitch, to Dominic Divito for agreeing to play for the opposition to even the numbers and to Dan Allen, making his debut to senior rugby and impressing in all areas of the game he was awarded man of the match.
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