Sils safe with victory over Southam

After an Easter weekend break Sils were refreshed and ready to kick on for the final three games of the season to look up towards the middle of the table. This freshness didn’t show in the opening passages with a sloppy restart take and initial knock on’s giving Southam the edge. Sils eventually got their act together and opened the scoring with a flukey Matt Lee try in the corner following what looked like a Sils knock after some ping pong off legs for Matt to touch down just about clinching onto the ball.
The Sils then got some confidence and started playing much the better rugby with aggressive carries from the forwards forcing Southam into mistakes at the breakdown, Sils getting rewarded penalties which were kicked to the corner. The resultant lineouts set the platform for Sils to open up their attack. Straight of the Andrew Clutterbuck training field Sils smashed up the middle with Ed Atkins to then switch back to the blindside with Ben Crowe feeding Fred Howard to cross the whitewash in the scoreboard corner.
Sils maintained a comfortable advantage and again were setup with clean line outs. This time Ed Atkins showed slick hands to feed fly half Harry Pick on the loop who then double looped Matt Lee to feed James Arney who scythed his way through and across the try line. Tom Lee slotted the conversion with the crowd still in awe of the clean accuracy in the lineout and speed by the backs making this team try of the season so far.
Sils had just enough time to secure the bonus before half time. A confident looping pass from Tom Lee set Harry Pick free to romp out of the Sils 22, the cover defence caught up as Harry handed the baton to Ross James to who drew the final defensive cover to feed James Arney to waltz under the posts for his second try of the day. HT, 24-0.
Half time replacements were made as Stephen Hall replaced Ed Atkins. Steve once again made an immediate impact to bust out of tackles and end up being fed after a Matt Lee break to cross the whitewash 4 minutes after the interval. Dom Marks also entered the fray with Ross James making way.
The second half aim to keep a clean sheet was then broken with Southam getting a score in the corner even after having looked to be in touch. 31-7, with half an hour to go. The remaining half hour was to be that of the Sils. Continuing phase play led to Mark Parry leaping over for a well-deserved try. Dan Walker then put his vote in for try of the season as he picked up the ball well inside his own half to break down the left wing. With dazzling feet he left the Southam defenders lying astray to score under the posts.
With the play breaking up Sils took even more advantage with Ben Crowe ending the scoring with a try of his own as backs and forwards conducted fine interplay to end the scoring 50-7.
Results went Sils way in the league and they secured Midlands 2 rugby for another season. With two final fixtures, however Sils could end the season on a high to climb to 7th in the table. This week’s fixture is an away trip to Barkers before hosting Berkswell and Balsall on the final weekend of the season.