Sils Kick Barkers’ Butts

The typical winter weather doesn’t go too well with Sils’ flair rugby style of play, but in Saturday’s sloppy conditions, the Copt Heath Elite mopped up all five points against struggling Barkers Butts to continue their strong recent run of form. The pack was unchanged but Ollie Trace and Jack Hobbs’ unavailability meant a re-shuffle in the backs, with Harry Law starting at 10, Matt Lee joining Olly Beech in the centres, with Stu Clarke and Dan Super on the wings and Harry Pick at fullback. Nic Powell, having heard murmurings of a cup run, came out of the woodwork as a late addition to the bench – by late, he turned up 20 minutes into the first half.

A good dumping of rain before kick-off made for a messy encounter from the outset, but Sils dealt with the circumstances better and after 8 minutes, the first of many Barkers scrums was bulldozed on their 5-metre line. As the Barkers back row and half backs tried to clear up the chaos, Tom Lee dived on the loose ball under the posts and converted to get Sils underway. Unusually, the scrum was to become a focal point for Sils’ success in the game as Sefa Aukuso and Mark Parry made a miserable afternoon even worse for the chatty Barkers front row.

On 24 minutes, the Sils backs had a chance to flex their attacking muscle, drawing the Barkers defence in before slinging a couple of passes wide, Olly Beech looping a beauty over the helpless defence for Harry Pick to run onto. Despite Pick's best efforts to get under the posts, Tom Lee managed to hit the woodwork and halt his flawless run of conversions at 9. Just 7 minutes later, another dominant Sils scrum in the clubhouse corner yielded a penalty try, converted by Lee to make the score 19-0. A solid first half was completed when a loose ball was hacked downfield, Matt Lee steering the ball under the posts for Olly Beech to dive on. Lee pulled a hamstring in the process and was replaced by late arrival Nic Powell for his first appearance in over a year. Try bonus point secured, half time whistle blown. 26-0.

The second half was fairly horrendous. The rain had ceased but the Copt Heath pitch was being churned up and the error-strewn game was putting flair at a premium. Barkers’ few sorties into the Sils 22 were seen off without any real danger to the other half of the scoreboard, and as the day darkened their frustration grew, occasionally spilling over in the direction of their opposition and the officials. In fairness, they were perhaps a little hard done by on a few penalty and scrum decisions.

Sils continued their professional outlook on the game, steamrolling another scrum (perhaps should’ve saved one for next week, fellas) for Pete Nicholls to show some nifty footwork at the base before collapsing over the line for the easiest of scores. Tom Lee, with his first remotely difficult kick of the day, converted to make it 33-0. There was just time for Nicholls to get himself a yellow card for flattening a Barkers player off the ball. He didn’t rejoin but Sils were more than able to keep the demoralised Barkers at bay in his absence.

Tougher tests lie ahead, namely the trip to the resurgent local rivals Berkswell and Balsall next weekend in the final fixture before the Christmas break.