Old Yardleians 20 Yardley & District 27
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Old Yards were looking to avenge the defeat in the first match of the season. Old Yards started the better of the two sides and opened the scoring in only the 3rd minute with a try by Dan Green. After the forwards put in a good drive George took the ball on before passing out to Christian who gained more ground before being supported by the forwards. The forwards drove over the line and it was a combination of Austin and Dan who made the final push with Dan claiming the try.
After this early setback the away side started to find holes in the Old Yards defence as tackles were missed and it was no surprise when they drew level in the 10th minute. From their second 5m scrum the ball was played to the flyhalf who brushed off tackles to score next to the posts. Yardley & District extended their lead to 7-5 with the successful conversion.
Yardley & District continued to look good and they extended their lead further in the 16th minute with another well worked passing move to score under the posts. The score remained at 12-7 to the visitors as the conversion was missed. Old Yards needed to start showing something and this they did as they stepped up a gear and cut out the unforced errors.
In the 23rd minute Old Yards reduced the deficit to just 2 points as Stuart scored in the corner after a good passing move by the backs. From way out on the touchline, Dan was unlucky with his kick. Looking as though they were only going to trail by two points at the break, Old Yards were disappointed to conceed a penalty to give the Yardley & District kicker a relatively easy kick for the three points.
Half Time - Old Yardleians 10 Yardley & District 15
Old Yards were caught half asleep at the start of the half as they conceeded a penalty from which the opposition ran the ball across the field to score after a couple of missed tackles. With the extra points from the conversion, the away side moved into a 22-10 lead. Yardley & District were now well on top as they had the home side on the back foot and in the 45th minute they scored an unconverted try after breaking from halfway.
Old Yards had to step up their game again and they showed great determination to reduce the 17 point margin after 50 minutes. George made a very strong run before he was supported allowing the ball to be fed out to Stuart who scored in the corner. Old Yards were having all the play now and piled on the pressure. They thought they had scored again as David stole the ball and drove over the line before grounding the ball. It appeared as though the referee decided that he had knocked on as a clearly had downward pressure on the ball, although the opposition claimed not.
With time running out the home side put in a final push and were again unlucky as Callum forced his opposite number to touch down behind his own line to conceed the 5m scrum. In the final minute Old Yards were rewarded for their effort as David made a powerful run to score the final try of the match.
Although Old Yards were disappointed to lose, they showed tremendous character and effort, particularly as the fifteen players played the full match as there were no replacements to use.
Full Time - Old Yardleians 20 Yardley & District 27
Team: James Lawler, Scott Wilson, Dan Green, Matt Willetts, Austin Hughes, Tom Carter, Shannon Killarney, George Bishop, Callum Killarney, Shaun Morris, Christian Wilson, David O'Grady, Dan Griffiths, Stuart Adams, Alex Patrick.
Replacements: None.
Scorers:
Tries - Stuart (2), Dan Green, David
Conversions - Nil