Shrewsbury 18 - 11 Old Yardleians 1st XV
Two close calls on potential Yards tries and a late team change, left Yards frustrated with a loss to the Shrewsbury side heavily fancied for the league title. Add two tries from Shrewsbury during the middle of the second half and it ended any chances of an away victory. Yards started well in the first 20 minutes, limiting Shrewsbury to a single penalty kick. The Yards' pack again started strongly, limiting the ball for the Shrewsbury backs. The front row consisting of Withey, Bucknall and Butler caused mayhem on the Shrewsbury put in. The only try for Yards came from a scrum in the first half when Steve Grainger picked up metres from the line to drive over. The second row combination of Phil Painter and Mick Brennan ensured consistent line out ball for Yards throughout the game and Steve Cunningham and Alan Purdy in the back row hassled the Shrewsbury half backs. Withey was frustrated when scoring what he thought was a good try only for the decision given to be held up on the line. Shrewsbury must have some strong players if they can hold Rich up! The Yards pack continued to dominate the scrum with the ref warning the Shrewsbury front row four times while Yards were going for a push over try but no penalty try was awarded. The centre combination of Joe Patrick and Colin Jones worked well with fly half Ben Honey whose converted Yards' first half try, Yards went in at half time 8-6 up, following another penalty kick from Shrewsbury. Yards continued to dominate at the start of the 2nd half with backs Lee Purdy, Andy Powrie, Andy Pearce and Dave Hansen making good runs. The Yards pack was then bolstered by Jack Horton coming on and Dave Rimmer came into the backs allowing Ben Honey to go into the back row. Then a few difficult scrums resulted in two losses against the head, leaving Yards defending deep in their own half. Two tries came in quick succession, with one of them being converted, taking Shrewsbury to 18 points. Yards converted a penalty with 15 minutes to go bringing them within a converted try of the home side. To protect their lead Shrewsbury constantly killed the ball leaving Yards frustrated as each attack was held up. Yards pressed up to the to the last minute when Lee Purdy grounded the ball on the line, only for the ref to call the score short.