Claverdon away
Snow Patrol
Claverdon v Silhillians
A trip to Claverdon on a very cold and Snowy Sunday morning was this week’s challenge for Sils.
While the squad trained and tried to warm up in the snow outdoors the support was well-sheltered indoors-drinking hot tea and coffee, leaving the clubhouse only at the last minute. Well it was snowing…
The game go off to a slippery start with both sides naturally finding handling difficult it was going to be a busy game for the front rows, which I must say, they handled it well.
The first try came quite early on as the Sils pack worked well to from the scrum to get ball out to the backs and as soon as Hanni got the ball nobody was stopping him to score under the posts. Converted Jacob. The restart had Sils putting pressure back on straight away and forcing more handling errors from Claverdon this time 5 yds out from the Claverdon try line, again the Sils scrum worked hard, with the ball fed out to Ethan to score under the posts. Converted Jacob.
It wasn’t getting easier hands were getting colder but both teams were still working hard and making a game of it but Sils were just too strong and before long Sils forwards were mopping up the loose ball which was led by Jonathon who’s strong run led to the ball finding Ross from the halfway line to break through the Claverdon defence and score in the corner. Excellent conversion from Jacob from a long way out his kicking has been excellent. In almost a repeat straight from the kick this time Ross collected and ran through a cold and wet Claverdon to score his 2nd in as many minutes. Converted. Both sides somehow were having a brief period of better handling. A penalty to Claverdon gave them a chance to gain some ground but opting to the run the ball at Sils didn’t work out well as Sils forwards rucking was solid again winning ball back Ben M came away with the ball running at the Claverdon defence advancing well taking the ball to ground which was fed out to Ethan who scored in the corner. No conversion. From the restart Sils pressure again had them breaking with Ethan advancing close to the Claverdon try line, which ended in more good Sils rucking and Jonathon going over for the final play of the half, converted Jacob.
Half Time 0 – 40
With the snow now turned to rain the 2nd half had been reduced to 20 minutes much to the players and supporters delight.
The game continued in pretty much the same manor as the first with Sils controlling most of the possession and it wasn’t long before another score came this time from Ben G who broke with strength to score a well deserved try and for Jacob to convert well again. Claverdon however did not let there heads drop and never gave up trying to make a game of it. A lot of kicking was now coming into the game from both sides trying to clear there lines, Claverdon having kicked clear had to contend with Ben S collecting who instead of returning the kick this time decided to run it and did so all the way to score in the corner. As the rain continued to fall the pitch was getting heavier but Claverdon were determined to get something from the game, which paid off as they scored there, only try under the posts. Unfortunately a rushed drop goal was missed.
The teams by now were well and truly finished as the kicking game came back into play and the referee decided to call it a day.
Both teams need praising for putting on a good performance in such trying conditions and were appreciative of the hot Pasta laid on for them in the Clubhouse at the end.
Final Score 5 - 52
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