Old Yardleians RFC: Club News
Yards Gallop to victory at Uttoxeter
Sun, 02 Dec 2012 08:15
On a very cold November Saturday the Old Yards traveled to Staffordshire in the Midlands section quarter final of the RFU National Junior Vase competition to take on Uttoxeter with the winners being only three victories away from a national final at the All-Blacks graveyard of Twickenham.
With a gentle breeze behind them the Ys started impressively and it didn’t take long for the visitors to put points on the board thanks to two penalty successes from Jake White. The first try of the game soon followed as a powerful drive from the Ys forwards ended with Phil Painter touching down to stretch the lead to 11 – 0. As the half drew to a close, White kicked another penalty to provide a score of 14 – 0 to the visitors.
The early pressure in the second half all came from the home side but strong defence from the Yards, with skipper Ben Honey leading by example, kept the scoreboard operator redundant. Having weathered the storm though a loose clearance kick was picked up by Uttoxeter and ran back with interest as they crossed the line to score a try which was also converted to narrow the gap to 14 – 7, causing just a little concern to the large band of visiting supporters.
From this point onwards the superior fitness of the Yards team ensured that the home side would not score again. With White kicking three more penalties the lead became 23 – 7. The Yards then scored the try of the match as winger Jim Hendrick combined with number 8 Steve Grainger with a succession of passes made at speed and which ended in success as full back Sean Rai touched down and which White converted to stretch the lead and final score to 30 – 7.
A relaxing journey home enabled the team to ponder over the semi-final draw. Would we be paired with Bedford Swifts, St Ives (East Midlands), or Warwickshire club Harbury ?
Other weekend successes for the Tilehouse Lane club saw the Development team win against Kings Norton 24 – 7 and the Under 17 team claim victory by 34 – 20 against Yardley and District.
Next Saturday sees a return to league action with a home game against Coventrians kick off at 2.15. As a gesture of seasonal goodwill entry to the match and car parking will be free.