Aston kicked off and Jordan Young kicked a superb high short kick which was won back by Aston who set a fast pace of play in the opening 10 minutes. The ball was moved swiftly through the Aston forwards hands and a period of cohesive attacking play led to a penalty in Aston’s favour. Ian Lyons kicked the points 3-0. Aston then dealt with the Droitwich kick off poorly and failed to clear the ball downfield. After a period of pressure Aston put in a poor clearance kick which was caught by the Droitwich 15 who launched an excellent counter attack wide. The Droitwich winger was stopped just short but a try was scored from the ruck and conversion scored 7-3. Aston’s backline were beginning to struggle with the Droitwich back line and several successful attacks wide made huge yardage up the field. A scrum on the half way line led to another wide attack which Aston failed to deal with. Droitwich scored a good try but the conversion failed 12-3.

Fortunately, Aston’s performance improved in the latter stages of the second half. A penalty was kicked to the corner and a smart catch and drive made yards into the Droitwich 22’. Ethan Channer took the ball short and steam rolled over the defenders to score a try which was converted by Ian 12-10. Aston continued to attack from the kick off and Jordan chipped the ball into the corner. Chevel Taylor chased down the kick and forced the catching player behind his own try line to gift Aston an attacking scrum. The ball was sent to the blindside and Chevel Taylor jinked past his opposite man to score in the corner. Conversion missed 15-12. The half finished with two quick tries for either side. Aston won a penalty just inside of the Droitwich half which was kicked to the corner. Following a catch and drive, Jordan fed the ball to Ethan Channer to score his second of the day. Conversion scored 22-12. Unfortunately, another failed clearance from a kick off led to Droitwich camping out in the Aston 22’. Eventually, this pressure led to a deserved try for the hosts and a half time score of 22-17.

Aston started the second half poorly and struggled to put together any consistent phases of play. Fortunately, Darren Gardner made a superb interception on his own try line and sprinted half the field. Joe Carroll was up in support and chipped ahead, chased and touched the ball down to score a brilliant individual try. Conversion scored – 29-17. This was the highlight of the half for Aston as they pace of the game started to have an effect on the team. Droitwich played well in the last 15 minutes and scored three tries. It was a deserved 36-29 victory for the hosts and Aston will need to learn the importance of closing out games in the last 15 minutes if they are to have a successful league campaign.

Author
Tom Nener
Club Captain