Sils 39 - 15 Earlsdon

Silhillians RUFC 39 – Earlsdon RUFC 15

An excellent performance from the Sils saw them run out convincing winners against Earlsdon.

Welcoming back a number of players missing in last week’s defeat to Stoke, the dynamism of the home side’s all-round play ensured the large crowd were treated to a superb display of running rugby, with the game effectively secured in a devastating first half.

The Sils took the lead within the first five minutes, gathering the ball from the kick-off and testing the opposition pack with some strong forward carries. After a series of fast phases, a missed pass from fly-half Jim Roper put the Sils outside backs in space, and a simple draw and pass enabled full-back Steve Hawkins to burn the Earlsdon cover and dive over for the score.

The lead was to double almost immediately after the restart, as the home forwards drew in the Earlsdon defence with a succession of sniping runs from the loose. A clean break from Roper split the oncoming defence, and a pass to supporting blindside Cameron Law out of the tackle allowed the Sils no.6 stretch his legs to beat the covering defence and finish from twenty metres out.

The third was to follow shortly after, as centre Simon Doherty found a gap out wide at the end of a long period of possession to dart through the line and finish under the posts. 17-0 to the Sils after only ten minutes.

Earlsdon finally managed to retain some possession, and succeeded in reducing the deficit with a penalty arising from an offside position. This was swiftly cancelled out, however, as hooker Lee Jones and lock Chris McDermott finished off some concerted pressure from the Sils for a pair of well-taken tries and with them the bonus point. 27-3 at the break.

The second half was to prove more evenly-balanced, as Earlsdon shook up their back line and managed to piece together some incisive periods of attack. First blood was to go to the Sils though, with winger Nic Powell finishing in the corner following another excellent break by returning eight Peter ‘Shelf’ Nicholls. A further score by the Sils, with Alex Roper finishing under the posts following another break from brother Jim, was in turn matched by a well-worked Earlsdon score that was fully deserved after numerous well-worked phases.

The visitors were to post the last points of the afternoon with an interception by the Earlsdon centre leaving the Sils, camped on the Earlsdon line, all at sea. By this stage, the result was already secure, and with a seven try haul the full five points were in the bag. All in all a great day of rugby.