Sat 2 Mar 2024
Claverdon’s 1st XV travelled away to Woodrush on Saturday afternoon in the hope of causing an upset for the hosts’ on their presidents day. The pitch was deemed playable on what was a cold, wet and boggy day, and was even accompanied by a thick dusting of snow during the first 5 minutes of the game.
Claverdon started strongly despite the challenging conditions. Winger, Hilton Garner-Jones collected a high ball on his halfway line, beat his man and broke down the right hand side. A last ditch tackle brought Garner-Jones down before the line, but the momentum was firmly with the away side. Two phases later, the ball was shipped out to Claverdon’s left wing, George Redwood, who gracefully dived over the line to give the Lions’ first points of the day. The boggy conditions prevented Sam Turrell from taking the additional 2 points on the conversion. Woodrush fought back well however. A series of offloads allowed the home side to speedily gain territory, culminating in a converted try of their own. Soon after the restart, Claverdon applied pressure on the Woodrush defensive line resulting in a high-tackle penalty. Sam Turrell decided to take the 3 points to narrowly regain the lead. Claverdon’s celebrations were muted extremely quickly as Woodrush found a sustained patch of momentum. Combined with a rare lapse of Claverdon concentration, Woodrush put three tries past the Lions in the space of 15 minutes. Stunned by what had just unfolded, the Claverdon team knew that the next try would have to be theirs if they were to stay in the game. After picking their heads up, a series of strong carries from Charlie Wakelam and Jordan Edwards allowed the Lions to approach the opposition try line. In the final play of the first half, Ali Norman bulldozed his way over the line to give Claverdon a glimmer of hope going into halftime.
The second half presented itself as an opportunity for Claverdon to chase down an 11-point deficit. Similar feats had been achieved recently in Claverdon’s home win over Walsall II. Claverdon debutant, Kieran Haynes entered the field in the second half and made an immediate impact. Following a series of forward carries, Haynes charged for the line, taking three Woodrush defenders with him. Grounding the ball over the line meant that Claverdon were only 5 points behind Woodrush. With all of the momentum behind them, Claverdon’s George Redwood decided he wanted to double his tally for the afternoon. A clever kick through and an equally strong chase saw him dot over the line. Turrell’s conversion put Claverdon just 1 point ahead.
With half an hour to play, Haynes, in case he hadn’t made his presence felt entirely by the Woodrush defence, barrelled his way over the line from 5 metres out to cement the Claverdon win, with the scoreline reading 26-32. The Lions have now won three games on the bounce, and with a weekend off, will have additional time to prepare for their away fixture against Coventrians on the 16th March.
Report by Hilton Garner-Jones
