Claverdon RFC

Claverdon’s 1st XV travelled away to Birmingham & Solihull on Saturday afternoon in their eighth league fixture of the season. Claverdon, having suffered defeat to a strong Barkers Butts side the weekend before, were looking to get back to winning ways, but a Bees team who had only recorded one loss all season meant that the Lions had their work cut out. 

Claverdon started much stronger of the two teams. An early try following a simple two-on-one saw outside centre, George Redwood scoring under the sticks. Fullback, Luke Sibley took the extra two points from the conversion. Claverdon continued to pile on the pressure early. A series of forward carries brought the away side deep into the Bees half once again. Inside centre, Gabe Ball, capitalised on the forward momentum and bouldered his way over the line to take Claverdon’s second try of the day. Once again, Sibley converted and the Lions had a comfortable 0-14 lead. However, poor discipline from the Claverdon pack resulted in a yellow card for prop, Will Thorneywork due to collapsing the scrum. This allowed Bees to regain some points, taking the score to 10-14 at halftime. 

With it all to play for, the second half was a challenging 40 minutes. Heavy rain caused the ball to slip around as handling errors increased. Claverdon, determined not to let their lead slip, made an excellent break on the halfway line. With no regard for the tricky conditions, the ball found its way out to the wing, where debutant, Charlie Reeve, dived over the line to score his first Claverdon try. Carries from Kieran Haynes and Dan Hadley allowed Claverdon to sustain pressure on the Bees side, with the latter capitalising on a tap-go penalty to score under the posts. Sibley again, took the extra two points, taking the score to 10-26. 

In the final 15 minutes of the game, Birmingham & Solihull fought back, with a bombardment of carries from their forwards. However, the Claverdon defence held firm right up until the final few minutes. Bees secured another try, but failed to convert. With the scoreline reading 15-26, Claverdon regained some structure, defended well and saw the game out masterfully. A huge win on the road for the Lions, who now face Lutterworth II at home on Saturday.