Sat 4 Dec 2021
Claverdon travelled to local rivals Harbury knowing a win would take them top of Midlands 4 West South and stretch their unbeaten run to 8 games. It is always a difficult away trip but a team high of confidence expected a performance.
Lions stand in skipper James Williams decided to play against the strong wind and low lying sun, anticipating a barrage of kicks pinning Claverdon back in their own half, but it was Claverdon who started brightest and with a flat defence a cross field kick allowed George Redwood to collect in behind the Harbury defence and make several metres before offloading to Sam Turrell who powered over the line to get Claverdon off to a perfect start. Chris Calcott, who has had better days off the tee, managed to add the extras from in front of the posts.
Claverdon soon extended their lead although Paris Garner-Jones almost fluffed it before crawling over the line. A line break from Williams allowed Byrd to race towards the line before being caught by the covering defence. Recycled ball allowed Garner-Jones to cross for his 7th try in 8 games with Calcott missing the conversion.
A penalty extended Claverdon’s lead to 15 before Harbury got on the scoreboard in fortunate circumstances. The Harbury fly-half seemingly dropping the ball in contact on the Claverdon line before falling on it to score. Despite the knock-on, the score at half time was 15-7.
Playing with the wind at their backs, Claverdon expected a minimum of 30 points in the second half, and despite not firing on all cylinders, the Lions came out the blocks quickly and pinned Harbury in their own 22. Charlie Byrd, ignoring desperate pleas to feed the backs and the overlap out wide, darted through a small-man sized gap to dot down. The wind proving difficult for Calcott who failed to add the extras.
The bonus point was secured with some magical hands in the corner. Ben Husthwaite showing his class with deft hands and a no-look pass to put the returning Tom Hudson into the corner. No need to tell you the outcome of the attempted conversion.
Harbury responded with a score of their own although Calcott got his radar right to put the lead beyond two scores, 28-12.
Sam Turrell took his tally to 2 for the game and 6 tries in 5 games following extended pressure in the Harbury 22. A cut out pass from Williams put Turrell into a gap 10 metres out and he dived over untouched. 2 points for Calcott.
The last two Claverdon scores were scored on with a combined total of 140 metres covered. Cecil turned the ball over on Claverdon’s 5 meter line before feeding Ali Norman inside the Claverdon 22. Lovely link up between Norman and Redwood, the latter flicking an out the back pass back to Norman allowed Kirby to skate clear and dot down under the posts. Williams then intercepted on the half-way line before racing clear to score under the posts. Calcott adding extras to both scores taking his tally to 14 for the match.
A 3rd Harbury score put a dampener on proceedings but Claverdon ran out comfortable winners 49-17 to the fury of the Harbury coach, bemoaning our “terrible scrum” but also saying “you outran us”. Funny that!
Ten years have passed since Claverdon went unbeaten in the 2010/11 year and with two games left before the Christmas break, the Lions are hoping to emulate the achievements of the “Invincibles”. A home game against Kings Norton before a mouth-watering away trip to Old Wheats to finish off the first half of the season."
Match report by Jimbo
