Old Yardleians 2nds 22 - 15 Birmingham Barbarians 1st XV
With a number of players unavailable the 2nd and 3rd XVs were combined to play Birmingham Barbarians. Playing against a strong wind Yards opened the scoring with a 75 yard run by centre Adam Walker as he evaded tackler after tackler. This was closely followed by a break on the visitors twenty-two by fullback Jamie Walton. As he neared the line Walton fed the excellent Phil Evans who powered on to score. With both conversions missed Yards led 10-0. As the half went on Yards' pack struggled to cope with the powerful Barbarian front five and were always under pressure on their own scrum. As the Barbarians got more possession they attacked the Yards' line and eventually their winger broke through to score in the corner. Using the strong wind the Barbarians then put up a big up and under that Yards' fullback Jamie Walton failed to deal with. The bouncing ball was picked up by a Barbarian centre and he raced over to score on the stroke of half time. Ten all at the interval, Yards' Captain Tony Fitz then gave an inspirational team talk aimed mainly at the forwards that did the trick. Yards then started to hold their own in the scrum. Added to this, the Yards dominance in the lineout thanks to the safe hands of jumper Phil Gouldbourn, supported by the pin point throwing of hooker Mark Baldwin, most of the second half was spent in the Barbarian twenty two. This lead to more tries. Firstly a miss move involving Walker and Baldwin gave Jamie Walton possession. He kicked ahead and following up caught his own kick. The ball was fed to winger Andy Peace who crashed towards the line and used his long reach to stretch over the line and ground the ball. David Rollins who had kicked well from hand all game added the conversion. Yards' second try started from a lineout that was again won by Phil Gouldbourn. As the Yards pack drove towards the Barbarian line, Alistair Gouldbourn took control of the ball. With support from the rest of the pack he got over the line to score the try that ensured victory. Barbarians did manage a try of their own in the second half but with a rejuvenated pack, Yards always looked the likely winners. Final score was a 22-15 win to Old Yards. It will be back to putting three teams out again next week and if anyone is interested in playing please contact Richard Withey on 07958 215229.