Old Yardleians Rugby Football Club

Arriving down at the Old Sils last Saturday, the first person I bumped into was Bill Collins, and I was surprised to see him close to tears. I reassured him that although relegation was inevitable that we have, over the years, tasted more success than failure. We will regroup, have players returning from injury and recruit new players and that we would start to see better times. Bill looked a little confused and responded that he still had confidence in the club but his tears were as a result of the beer prices that our hosts demanded or expected which were somewhat higher than at Old Ys.

The game itself gives me hope in that we can win set piece possession and  if the referee had awarded us an early penalty try when Sils, in desperation, infringed to deny us seven points and with it the boost we needed. So, where did we go wrong. Not going into an in depth analysis, when the Sils attacked us out wide, they moved the ball sharply and our three quarters were not up as a line, in their faces and forcing the errors. When building attacks through our back line we tended to take the ball from a static position, which makes life a little easy for the opposition to deal with. It is only my view point, but give it some thought boys. 

When a team struggles, which apparently we have, it becomes difficult for individual players to make an impact on games. Now we have a player who has played second row, centre and wing. He is a strong runner and ball carrier but needs to receive the ball early to enable him to use his strength. As I see it, his position is not all that important as long as w get the ball to him.Who is this player? His name is Andy Pearce. He has represented Greater Birmingham this season and is due to play in the North Midlands Final in early May on a date yet to be confirmed.  Well done Andrew, as The Thomas Aquinas effect is seen again.