Sat 23 Sep 2023
This week saw the lions travel to top of the table Veseyans RFC following the great win against Southam.
Claverdon lost the toss and decided to kick off uphill and were met be an aggressive attack from Veseyans only to be slowed down by a strong defensive set from the men in red and white. Claverdon fought hard forcing a number of penalties from the hosts leading to a greatly executed lineout from the Claverdon forwards and a terrific line break from No.10 Will Jackson. Claverdon were awarded yet another penalty which was taken quickly by debutant Thomas Phillips to be awarded another penalty for a deliberate knock on by the Veseyans winger which saw Thomas Phillips open the scoring for the visitors.
The Lions launched another strong attack which saw Will Jackson with another well placed kick secure a 50/22 and attain the throw in for the line out deep into the Veseyans 22. The hosts came back at the visitors scoring a try from a well put together series of phases leaving the score at 7-3.
Play continued with both sides being very evenly matched until they forced Clav into their own 22 and coupled with a few penalties from the visits drove over the try line to score their second try of the match 12 – 3. Claverdon came back strong on the attack and again secured a further penalty which thanks to another kick from Thomas Phillips secured another 3 points for the visitors 12-6. Veseyans were quick to reply to these points as they lodged an attack against Clav and scored another try.
The Lions were quick to respond with the forwards putting in some dominant scrums with the return of Jack Barwell to the 1st XV which gave Claverdon the forward momentum to put the pressure on Veseyans which released Hilton Garner-Jones on the wing only to be stopped short of the line and deliver an offload to George Redwood to score under the posts and taking the score to 19 – 11 at the break.
The second half saw the hosts firing on all cylinders and scoring an early try in the half and take the score to 24 – 11. Clav fought back with a strong defence and with some strong line breaks from Stan Lawrence and with Hilton Garner-Jones snaking through the opposition saw a strong chance of the visitors scoring only to be denied a try by a great jackal from Veseyans.
Clav again attacked hard with another great run from Hilton Garner-Jones who was to be denied a scoring opportunity by a nasty shot from Veseyans leading to a yellow card for the opposition winger. The Lions opted for the lineout and following a great attack Stan Lawrence crossed the whitewash to secure Claverdon’s second try of the game. 24 – 18.
The match was closely fought between the two teams with the hosts managing to score two more tries against the Lions who picked up a few injuries late into the second half taking the final score to 34-18.
Special mentions have to go out to Thomas Phillips and Jimmy Lewitt for stepping up to the senior team from the Colts and Jack Barwell for his man of the match performance having been side-lined with a knee injury for all of last season.
Match report by Josh Smallwood
