Sat 3 Feb 2024
This week saw Claverdon travel to Coalville in a mid table clash that could see Claverdon leapfrog the hosts with a win.
Captained by Will Jackson and seeing Thomas Phillips and Jimmy Lewitt step up from the colts Claverdon started strong with a powerful scrum against the hosts following a poor kick off. Claverdon lodged a strong attack against Coalville which saw them pinned back in their own 22 as the lions continued to attack hard. Clav were awarded a penalty following the opposition being offside at the kick off and decided to run the ball resulting in Luke Sibley crossing the whitewash after a great passing display from the lions. This try was converted by Sam Turrell to send Clav 0-7 up.
Clav continued to attack following the restart and were turnover to face a strong attack from the hosts which was met by a strong defence that Coalville couldn’t break through. Claverdon were awarded a penalty which was taken quickly by captain Jackson which was overturned by a strong ruck from the hosts who kick long down the pitch to be caught by fullback TP. The ball was kicked back by the full back in a perfectly executed 50/22 which saw Clav retain possession at the line out. The line out was disrupted by the opposition but ultimately led to a penalty for the Lions which was taken by Will Jackson who chipped the ball over the defensive line of Coalville and was collected by Luke Sibley to score under the sticks. This again was converted by Sam Turrell to take Clav to 0-14.
Play continued with some strong attacks from both sides which were defended well seeing lots of back and forth between both sides before Coalville scored following a scrappy and panicked phase of play from Claverdon. 5-17 to Claverdon.
As the first half continued both teams continued to attack and defend each other hard with Clav clearing their lines as well as winning an opposition line out Will Jackson launched a cross field kick aimed at winger George Redwood which was collected and then fumbled in the tackle by the Coalville winger. Fullback Thomas Phillips kicked through and collected the ball to run from the opposition 10m line to score the try. Sam Turrell once again scored the conversion making the score 5-21 to the lions.
Play started quickly again where captain Jackson took a huge hit from the restart but managed to keep play going with some great offloads from all involved. Clav got the ball out to the centre of the field where colt Jimmy Lewitt came through on a great crashing line to make some great ground for the visitors. Lewitt was tackled and offloaded to Stan Lawrence who crossed the line to score the try making the score 5-26 shortly followed by a penalty from Sam Turrell making the score 5-29 at the break.
The match was restarted following the halftime break which saw a heavy attack from Coalville which saw the hosts kick long up the field and allowed the lions to string some phases together before the ball was passed out wide to winger George Redwood who ran from the halfway line beating many defenders to score under the posts. Sam Turrell once again scored the conversion taking the score to 5-36.
The match continued again with both sides going hard at each other until Coalville were awarded a scrum in the Claverdon 22. They put in a strong scrum with a couple of good phases of play to see them score against the lions taking the score to 10-36. The hosts once again continued to attack against Clav with the visitors having a couple of chances in the opposition 22 which was met with a strong defence before the hosts battled hard on the Claverdon 5 metre line and eventually came away with points following a long spell of tackling for the lions. Their fly half converted to take the score to 17-36.
The visitors once again attacked hard creating opportunities on the field but having to defend a further Coalville try that was deemed held up by the referee the Lions emerge from the game victorious and secured a 5 point win.
Special thanks must go to Marc Spencer for stepping in at the last minute to cover the front row.
By Josh Smallwood
