Aston Victorious

There were some who in weeks gone by have sighed and looked to the past to denote triumphs in an Aston shirt and in truth Aston did have a spine of players from the past lacing their boots on Saturday for the victory over Ludlow.
Upon closer inspection however a new crop of talent has begun to emerge. Talent that will one day push down into the lower sides the ageing limbs of Max Vlahakis, Ian Wall, Tony Parry, Oz Horrocks, Ian Davies and Pete Carroll - but not quite yet!
Ludlow, notoriously poor travellers arrived at Aston with 11 players. At home and with a full squad plus extras a game of XV's was put together, with Aston generously allowing 2nd team regulars such as Mark 'blade' McInerney, Adam 'Merlin' Irvine, Big Mick Cowley and Callum 'the eagle' Stafford to be loaned to bolster the Ludlow team. All loan players playing with strength and merit for Ludlow (occasionally too good some might say!
Aston started lively and looked extremely strong from kick off despite one the fastest yellow cards ever seen at Sunnybank folowing a penalty infringement by Cameron Chaudrhy. Dominating the entire game in the pack it came as no surprise that Sean Sandford scored the first try of the game following a strong run and off load by Pete Carroll, bursting free through their line to touch down.
The pack remained dominant through with strong performances from Andy 'Badger baiter' Coveney (tight as always in the scrum), Sam 'Gimley' Bradley (particularly at line out), Tony Parry (running hard with ball in hand), Oz Horrocks (who bought strength and stability to the scrum), Pete 'Pikey' Carroll (whose aggressive running consistently moved the ball forward in the loose) Sean Sandford (controlling the ball well in the scrum and ending the try drought long suffered by Aston 2's, Darren 'black Voldemort' Hamilton (whose strong wizarding running helped set up countless attack ball for the backs) and Ian 'Blue' Davies (who showed a calmness and tactical nous when called upon).
These strong foundations were capitalised upon by some equally stong running performances by the Aston backs aided by the return of Billy Whizz. Billy at Fly Half with Two Try, Sam Massey playing in his unfavoured position of Scrum Half controlled the ball and therefore the game producing runs and clean quick ball for the centre partnership of Kris 'Myra' Hyndley (strong as always in attack and defence) and Max 'Sniper' Vlahakis (who ran, passed and caught as if he'd been shot prior to the game).
Add to the that strong debues from Adam Hollande at full back, Cameron Chaudhry and Mustapha Ndiaye whose unorthodox yet rapid running style, like a daddylonglegs on speed, netted a debue hat-trick and earned the BCU new boy a Jug!
I haven't enjoyed playing a game so much in a while, and it wasn't only the win that caused smiles on the faces of the Aston players on Saturday. It was the team spirit and positivity, a long staple of the old third team under Pete Carroll, that saw a return to the club. Cheers, beers, Killer pool and the return of cheeky Vimto were evident that night as it was remembered why we all turn up into our 50's (blue) to put on the green, red and white of Aston - Friendship and Good times.

On a more sad note Prosper 'the beast' Chidzomba ruptured his archilles prior to the game on Saturday and will be out for some time. We will miss his power tackles but he has promised his attendance hobbling along the sideline in his Aston shirt!