Old Yardleians R.F.C. 5 Bromsgrove R.F.C. 22
Old Yards were up against a strong and experienced Bromsgrove side who had brought along a large following to support them. Although Old Yards have built up a large squad, the team was down to just 17 players for this match and one of these was a new player to the club, with a number of players being unavailable . With the pack being hit the hardest, Richard moved Dan Griffiths from outside centre to second row. There were a few comments from the home supporters before the game about the size of the opposition players and the fact that they looked to be an older side than Old Yards. Clearly Bromsgrove had come to win the match.
Considering the strength of the opposition, the home side was not going to let this affect them and the players were giving as good as they were getting in the early stages, with the pack playing particularly well. After a couple of scares near the Old Yards line, the home side broke out of defence at pace with both Stuart and Andrew giving the oppostion something to think about. The home side, however, struggled to get players up in support quick enough. Having made one earlier run, Andrew had to leave the field after another long run as his sickness got the better of him. With only 20 minutes gone Richard brought on Sheldon, leaving only the new lad, Dan, as replacement.
The home side line again came under pressure but Alex was able to kick the ball upfield a couple of times to clear play from the 22. Having contained the opposition in the first 24 minutes, the home side went behind as the Bromsgrove no. 8 picked up from the scrum and dived over to score. In would be interesting to see how Old Yards would react to going behind with their attacking options limited due to the loss of Andrew and Dan playing in the forwards. Old Yards almost levelled the scores as the ball was played along the line to George D. who made a great run towards the corner, only to be stopped by a strong tackle which saw George having to leave the field to be replaced by Dan.
Things did not look good for Old Yards and it appeared that the best they could hope for was to see out the half without conceeding again. However, in the face of adversity, they managed to level the scores in the 29th minute. Stuart made a good break and Tom took the ball on before the forwards came up in support and from the resulting ruck Dan Green managed to power over for the try. From the celebrations it was clear that the players were pleased to see Dan score his first try for the club. Having scored the try, Dan stepped up for the conversion but his kick was short from a difficult position.
Half Time - Old Yardleians 5 Bromsgrove 5
Bromsgrove made a number of changes at half time to strengthen their side as things were not going as they had planned. Old Yards were not able to capitalise on their strong finish to the first half and it was Bromsgrove who retook the lead after 33 minutes. After loose play by the home side, Bromsgrove won the ball and a strong run saw them score and unconverted try to lead 10-5. Old Yards were struggling now to hold Bromsgrove as the looked to be running out of steam having given their all in the first half.
In the 39th minute Bromsgrove extended their lead after, having won a line out, Bromsgrove ran the ball across field before the home side conceeded a 5m penalty. From the tapped kick, Bromsgrove powered over the line and extended their lead to 17-5 with a well taken conversion. Old Yards were not going to let Bromsgrove run away with this match and again dug in even though they were tiring badly.
Eventually after 49 minutes the away side scored again, although it was down to mistakes by Old Yards as a couple passes went astray, allowing Bromsgrove to take possession and score. There were no further scores in the final 11 minutes and Bromsgrove ran out winners, although the scoreline did not reflect the good play and effort put in by Old Yards. With the first defeat since the opening match of the season there are things to be worked on in training.
Full Time - Old Yardleians 5 Bromsgrove 22
Team: James Lawler, Scott Wilson, Dan Green, Dan Griffiths, Austin Hughes, David O'Grady, Shannon Killarney, George Bishop, Callum Killarney, Shaun Morris, George Drabble, Andrew Cox, Tom Scott, Stuart Adams, Alex Patrick.
Replacements: Sheldon Du Plessis, Dan
Scorers: Tries - Dan Green