Aston’s first game of pre-season produced an error-strewn first game. Aston started brightly and made ground from the kick off. Ethan chipped the ball to the corner but unfortunately the chase was poor and the Civil Service 15 was allowed to make significant ground up-field. Aston were then on the backfoot defensively and conceded a poor penalty at the break down which was kicked to the corner. The lineout produced a smart catch and drive. Aston were sucked into defending the maul and this left a huge gap out wide which was smartly exploited by Civil Service for the opening try of the tournament for. The remainder of the half was a stalemate as Aston tried to play their way back into the game.

The second produced an improved performance from Aston but Civil Service were very strong at the breakdown and managed to turnover at lot of possession on the third or fourth phase of Aston ball. This was to their credit and the rest of the half followed this pattern. The bright note for Aston was that the defence improved as the game went on and set piece improved in the second half.

Aston Old Eds 12 – 0 Droitwich

Aston came up against a strong Droitwich second team in match 2. The game started strongly for Aston and defence was superb. From this platform Aston gained both territory and possession. Jack Bayliss was excellent and spread the ball well from 9. Tom Dartnell took a pass from Jack and stepped inside to find a hole in the Droitwich defence to power over the line. Conversion missed. Defence remained strong for the rest of the half and never looked like conceding a try.

The second half started well and Aston scored an early try. After a powerful break from Darren Gardner, Ray took the ball and offloaded to a charging Tom Burnett who crashed over the try line. Tom Dartnell converted – 12-0. Aston were very stable for the rest of the half and played out time well thanks to a number of turnovers won by Julius Hunt.

Aston Old Eds 10 – 0 Essington

This game produced Aston’s best performance of the day. The attack was fluid and effective and an early chance to score went begging when the winger stepped into the dead ball area. Another chance followed but this time an Aston forward also stepped into the dead ball area!! Following a patient explanation from the referee as to where the try line was – Aston finished the half with two tries. Both tries were scored by Ray Brown crashing through the middle following a long period of pressure in the Essington half. Both conversions were missed.

The second half was scrappy affair with Aston struggling to match the fluid attack of the first half. Essington never looked like scoring which is a bonus but Aston struggled to put together multiple phases of play without a mistake.

Aston finished second in the group and proceeded to a semi-final against Bloxwich.

Aston Old Eds 0 –0 Bloxwich

Unfortunately, the semi final only last 2-3 minutes due to an awful leg break for one of the Bloxwich players. The game proceeded to a drop goal penalty shootout. After drawing 2-2 in the first 5 shots at goal, Aston were victorious in sudden death thanks to the steady boot of Ray Brown.

Aston Old Eds 0 – 10 Birmingham Civil Service

Aston started the game poorly and gifted a lot of possession to Civil Service who chose to spread the ball wide on a number of occasions. Eventually this pressure broke the Aston defence and the Civil Service winger scored in the corner. Conversion missed 5-0. Aston tried to attack strongly following winning the ball at the kick off but kept losing the ball at the breakdown in a repeat of the first game of the tournament. Following a turnover Civil Service attacked for the rest of the half and shortly before half time managed to score a try. Conversion missed 10-0.

The second half produced a much improved performance. Defence was very solid and Aston dominated possession and territory. Unfortunately, Aston could still not win the battle of the breakdown and this meant slow ball which was eventually turned over near the Civil Service line to allow them to clear after each attack. A comfortable win in the end for Civil Service but Aston can be pleased with a better performance in the second half.

Tom Nener
Club Captain