With five victories on the trot, Oldfield went into the game high in confidence whilst their Bristol opponents had lost the last 5 and were slipping down the table. However, the formbook goes out of the window in local derbies and with a blustery wind and driving rain to boot, the scene was set for an interesting afternoon of rugby.

Oldfield started the brighter, but a knock on allowed for a Cleve scrum and their 10 signified their approach by pumping the ball high in the air. From a knock on, Cleve had another scrum inside the Oldfield 22 and after some work at forward, a turnover was gratefully accepted and a penalty was then awarded and Oldfield cleared. Oldfield moved the ball around from inside their own half and after attacking wide right, the ball was moved across the field and Ollie Sacco stepped inside his man and was pulled down close to the try line and from a ruck, the ever alert Ian Thomas scrambled over to open the scoring.

Cleve got back into the game with a penalty and the play was mainly based around the half way line and both teams struggled a little with the conditions. Oldfield then had a great 10-minute spell, defying the conditions and backs and forwards combined to produce some excellent rugby. The ball was moved wide and the Sam ‘Yeti’ Lewis burst through a gap and his 20m charging run was halted, but quick ball made its way from Rhidian McGuire to Sean Lilley to Rob Payne who raced clear and fed Ollie Sacco, who touched down under the posts for a fine score. Payne converted and Oldfield was leading 3-12. As half time approached, Oldfield continued to press and a chip through from Sean Lilley, exposing the space behind the Cleve defence in the 22 resulted in a penalty after a blatant late tackle. However, the penalty just sneaked wide and Oldfield couldn’t add to the lead.

Cleve started the second half with more urgency and their burly forwards were relied on, to go forward. Although with the Oldfield forwards getting through a mountain of defensive work they were kept at bay. After a number of scrums in the Oldfield 22, the Cleve forwards again couldn’t find a way through, but a penalty brought the scores closer at 6-12. Cleve enjoyed their best spell of the game and continued pressure from the home pack resulted in a score from close in, which was unconverted and took the scores to 11-12.

An Oldfield breakout saw Sean Lilley, Matt Middleton and Jacob Fields combine to take the play up-to the Cleve 22, but the offload didn’t go to hand and Cleve cleared. Another Cleve penalty saw them take the lead for the first time in the game and this gave Oldfield the impetus to start playing again. After some good build up play with forwards and backs to the fore, Lilley linked with Sam Weier out wide and the second row fed his brother Isaac and he hit a line and eased past the home defender to score another fine try from 25m out, demonstrating the ambition of the visiting team; the conversion narrowly missed but Oldfield regained the lead 14 -17.

With neither team managing to score any more points, Oldfield demonstrated great composure to run the clock down with a number of pick and drives and Rhidian McGuire punted the ball out, to bring the game to an end. This was another pleasing Oldfield victory founded on hard graft and determination, whilst 3 excellent tries were scored, some of the rugby played on the day, in testing conditions, was to be applauded. Open side flanker, Paddy Mills was named Man of the Match.

Oldfield welcomes Camborne to Fortress Shaft Road on Saturday 3 March to renew their league season and will be looking to make it 7 from 7.

Match Report written by: Super Groupie 10
Match Photos by: Donna Bunton.