Sat 23 Mar 2024
Saturday afternoon saw Claverdon host Old Wheatleyans in their least home fixture of the season. With over 60 ladies members sitting down for lunch, the 1st XV were hoping to put on a display.
The match started extremely well for Claverdon. Within 2 minutes of kick-off, winger, George Redwood shrugged off two tackles to dance his way to the line. Centre, Sam Turrell, who has been kicking consistently well all season, added the two points from the conversion. Old Wheatleyans seemed shaken by the strong start from the home side, but initially struggled to find any form to reduce the deficit. Back row, Tom Bicknell made a break in the centre of the pitch and was supported well by winger, Robbie Foster who found some extra pace to score in the corner. The Claverdon crowd were impressed to see such a positive start from their side, particularly against a recently in form Wheats team. The away side’s woes continued as number 8, James Barton added his name to the scoresheet after a break made by fullback, Hilton Garner-Jones. With the score reading 19-0, Wheats eventually started to put some positive phases together, culminating in a try of their own to reduce the deficit. The last 15 minutes of the first half appeared to show a complete role reversal of the two sides. Sustained pressure in the Claverdon half, compounded by the home side’s repeated penalty infringements allowed Wheats to add a further two tries. The halftime score read 19-19.
The second half was once again, a competitive affair. James Barton showed a turn of pace to make a break in the middle of the field, only to be brought down inches from the line. After a quick recycle, Stan Lawrence dived over the line to give Claverdon the first points of the second half. After 5 minutes of back and forth, Wheats kicked a goal line dropout which was received by by Jimbo Williams. Williams took the ball up to the line and gave a looped pass over to Redwood who scored his second of the afternoon. The conversion from Turrell extended the Claverdon lead and provided some breathing space. Wheats soon responded after a Claverdon yellow card. The opposition outside centre cut an aggressive line to score under the posts, allowing Wheats to come within a converted try of Claverdon. Knowing that the next score would be crucial, Claverdon’s pack bulldozed their way up the field to come within metres of the Wheats line. Scrum-half, Ben Hawkes saw an opening and sniped his way to the try line to increase the Claverdon lead. Turrell, despite the windy conditions, added another conversion to his tally and the home side felt comfortable once again. Following some strong carries from Claverdon’s Will Thorneywork and Chris Glover, a seemingly non-threatening breakdown in the Wheats half turned potent very quickly. As the ball was passed out to Williams, a little dink over the defensive line allowed Redwood to lay chase and score his third of the day. With Wheats well beaten now, Claverdon could play with more confidence in attack and defence. Calvjn Lynch rushed out of the defensive line to snap up an interception deep in his own half. With plenty of metres between himself and the try line, Lynch pinned his ears back and won the footrace to score Claverdon’s final try of the afternoon. The match finished 52-26 in favour of Claverdon and rounded up a successful Ladies Vice-Presidents day! Claverdon now look on to 6th April for their last league game against Coventry Welsh.
Report by Hilton Garner-Jones
