Sat 24 Sep 2022
Claverdon hosted Tenbury 1st XV on Saturday in what was poised to be a thrilling performance, with both teams on a W:2 L:1 streak in their first 3 games of the season.
Claverdon showed good promise in the first 10 minutes, and took an early 3-0 lead from a James Williams penalty. However, Tenbury responded quickly with their own penalty kick to level the scores. Following a series of Claverdon penalties, Tenbury pinned the hosts into their own half and piled on the pressure. The visitors’ efforts were rewarded with a try, but a failed conversion meant Claverdon were still in contention. Tenbury closed the half out with yet another penalty kick to stretch their lead to 11-3.
The second half was filled with aggression in both attack and defence. Notable mention must go to the prop partnership of Ollie Johnson and Marc Spencer, both of which carried hard. Unfortunately, a reversed Claverdon penalty on their own 5-metre line gifted Tenbury another 3-points. Clav were not down and out though. A fantastic driving maul led by Elliott Saltmarsh and Luca Walker saw Claverdon approach the Tenbury try-line, only for James Williams to dot over and convert, taking the score to 14-10. Momentum was with Claverdon, another try was needed. A Claverdon scrum deep in the Tenbury half was the last chance to snatch the win. However Tenbury wanted it more and turned the ball over, only for the opposition scrum half to hurriedly boot the ball out of play. Final score: 14-10 to Tenbury.
By Hilton Garner-Jones
