Aston Old Edwardians 20 - 75 Harborne

This was altogether a rather happier occasion for Aston as they scored three tries in a game for the second time this season and,actually, got four. The ref, however, was unsighted and felt unable to credit Ethan Channer's touchdown. There were times in the match when Aston played some steady rugby, keeping the ball for respectable periods and able to make progress with it. In the previous encounter Harborne had made Aston look lethargic in comparison as they possess a lively back line and a full back who gets himself into the game regularly.

Aston played with the slope in the first half and were immediately on the offensive. They drove the visitors back in the first scrum which had the extra ballast of Tony Parry, and Adam Baldock making his first appearance after his return from Old Yards. Harborne grabbed a long range try via their backs and looked dangerous whenever the ball was fed out. They deserve praise for their desire to throw the ball around, which they did from start to finish. They went three converted tries up before Aston got onto the sheet with a penalty goal from Ian Lyons who did well throughout. A great break from Kris Hindley and excellent support saw Freddie Brittain cut down at the corner only a metre short of the line in an attack which began on the Aston 22. Harborne got another try after much strong defensive work by the home team who continued in this vein with good ball retention of their own. This pressured Harborne and they shipped penalties, eventually annoying the ref sufficiently for him to flash a yellow card. Aston had a penalty from five metres and, after some powerful approach work, Adam Baldock got across the line but the try went unconverted. Paul Bradley caught the restart, Ethan Channer broke away and Ian Lyons was left with a long run-in under the posts for a well deserved try which he converted . Before the break Harborne notched one more converted try leaving the score at 15-35, a very creditable margin from Aston's point of view.

The second half, against the slope, was not to be as productive for Aston as Harborne's backs made their mark. Aston had plenty of the period but found it harder to make real progress up the hill. Excellent try-saving tackles from Ethan Channer and Nick Whiteman were big features whilst Emric Elmhirst played well on the right wing and tackled strongly. Kris Hindley crossed the whitewash in the top left hand corner for Aston's final try after some positive work by all. Thereafter, Aston put in a solid period of defence but could not deny Harborne the last word when they grabbed the final try from twenty metres.

This was better to watch than most recent games and there was a lot of effort put into the tackling. The pressure exerted by Aston's backs on the Harborne three quarters caused them to make many mistakes and this pressure was worth twenty points to Aston.