Earlsdon welcomed Harbury to Mitchell Avenue, on a hot Sunday morning for their friendly match.

The coaches asked the players to be at the ground for 10:15am, clearly some of the players had forgot about this and decided to run in at 10:45... poor preperation for Earlsdon.

Earlsdon 36 v 33 Harbury
Tries: Adam, Joe H x3, Ethan, Joe B x2

This game was definitely a game of two halves.... Earlsdon totally dominate in the first half, followed by a comical display in the second.

The first half saw Earlsdon dominate possession at the breakdown and disrupt Harbury scrum. Earlsdon forwards were absolutely on song. Their hard work putting Harbury under pressure, forcing them to make mistakes, then Ross at scrum half releasing the backs to cause the most damage. Tries from Adam (FIRST TRY!!!) Joe H x2, Ethan and Joe B x2 put Earlsdon in a fantastic position.

The second half was credit to Harbury. Harbury came back at Earlsdon with some zip and purpose, and punished for some woefully poor tackling. As Earlsdon had played so well in the first half, they thought the second would be a strole and right from the off when Earlsdon were caught napping in defence, Harbury ran outside to score a try. The coach was not happy that they did not front up at the first tackle. From the resulting conversion the Earlsdon players let themselves down by copying Harbury in the first half. The coach was not happy!!! From the kick off Harbury ran in another try, which is what Earlsdon deserved. This seemed to kick start Earlsdon into making tackles and competing at the scrums. From a scrum on the half way line, Earlsdon called a backs move, and executed it in superb fashion, providing Joe H a superb ball to run on at pace with a great line to take him in under the posts. The coaches were delighted.

The rest of the half saw the game ebb and flow, but Earlsdon came out on top. GREAT GAME OF RUGBY BY BOTH SIDES.

Earlsdon 15 v 5 Harbury
Tries: Mason, Ethan and Joe B (Penalty Try)

With so much put into the first match, the second match saw lots more mistakes through tiredness, but Earlsdon executed two backs moves which brought great reward. Excellent work by Joe B, Rohan, Adam and Ben meant Earlsdon retained possession, with Ross feeding William, who in turn fed to Ethan, who fed to Jamie to feed to Mason to score the first try. Harbury soon replied with some excellent play from the restart, putting the Earlsdon team under pressure, to release their ‘whippet’ to run in a good try. This galvanised Earlsdon and within minutes of conceding the try, Earlsdon went ahead,through a try from Ethan. Excellent work from Marcus, Ross, and Ryan put Earlsdon in a strong field position, where quick ball from Jack to Ethan who ran a strong line to score the try. The final try came from Joe B, as a penalty try. Good work by Earlsdon team put them in strong field position, thiswas going to be a forwards try, however Earlsdon just short of the whitewash, the referee awarded a penalty try for a persistent infringement, which had both Harbury and Earlsdon coaches scratching their heads.

Excellent weather, excellent day of Rugby,we look forward to travelling to Harbury next season for the return fixture – good competitive game.


Players: Joe B, Joe H, William, Jack, Marcus, Ross, Mason, Ethan, Jamie, Ryan, Ben, Adam and Stevie

Players of the week: Forwards – Adam, Backs - Jamie

Special Mention: Well done to Adam for scoring his first try....