Sat 17 Jan 2026
Saturday afternoon saw Claverdon RFC kicking off their first game of 2026 facing a challenging opponent in Bromsgrove 2nd XV. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Claverdon narrowly lost out to a last minute try from the away side.
The opening 15 minutes were packed full of action and controversy. Bromsgrove displayed excellent handling as they positioned themselves deep into the Claverdon half. Big carries from several of the forwards culminated in the first points of the afternoon. Soon after, Claverdon suffered a blow with a yellow card offence. Despite trying to weather the storm, two further tries from Bromsgrove meant that Claverdon would be facing an uphill battle with their sin bin returning.
With the match back to 15 v 15, Claverdon began to fight back with true grit and determination. A penalty kick to the corner placed the Lions deep into the Bromsgrove 22. A dialled in lineout, courtesy of Josh Smallwood saw Claverdon develop a driving maul headed for the try line. However, a Bromsgrove infringement resulted in a penalty try. With the scoreline reading 21-7, Claverdon immediately went back on the offensive. A crossfield kick from James Williams to Hilton Garner-Jones allowed the latter to beat his man and head for the Bromsgrove line. With one defender left, Garner-Jones found veteran forward, Steve Grimsley in support who dotted over the line. Luke Sibley converted to bring the score to 21-14.
The chaos of the game didn’t stop there however. A sudden rush of blood to the head saw another yellow card offence for the same player, resulting in a red card for Claverdon. Within 5 minutes, another penalty infringement saw Claverdon go down to 13 men. It was within this period that the tries really began to leak in. While the Lions managed to score another try, the game was over. With 14 men for the majority of the match, Claverdon couldn’t compete with Bromsgrove. The match ended 59-19.
Report by Hilton Garner-Jones
