From almost the final whistle of the game against Spartans we were being primed for the visit of Camp Hill. They’ve been fierce rivals from a time before even Steve Dyer pulled on an Aston shirt and we were determined not to let the club down.

It’s safe to say that what took place on that pitch will have left a proud smile on some of the Aston men of old.

In terms of preparation there were few hiccups, and there were some good drills, chat and warm up before the game. This is a massive improvement on the last few weeks and it just shows how we’re coming together better.

The start however was classic Aston. We seem the eternal gentleman and insist on allowing the opposition a lovely head start. 7-0 down due to some sleepy first up tackles we were not happy with ourselves and it showed.
Some good solo work from John Pollard and we were back in it straight away. 5-7 to Camp Hill.

Callum Stafford had managed to take a hit to the top of his head, and as is the way with these things, he bled a lot though no real damage was done.
Kaleil Meynard has found scoring in the seniors as easy as it is for him in the colts and he picked up the ball off the back of the ruck and powered over for a solid try.
Dave Goring danced through Camp Hill with absolute abandon but just failed to beat the last man and take a try.
Steve Dyer hit the line at pace and broke through it like it was nothing, chased by our two centres Kaleil and Jerome. Some might say they were the only ones quick enough to catch him, and if the offload hadn’t been snaffled in to the tackle another try would have been on the cards.
Dave stepped up again and in a much more straightforward burst of pace crossed the line right over in the left corner, trotting through to dot down almost by the post.

Not to be out done his fellow Dave, Astons own Inglebeast scored a fabulous try whilst being damn near decapitated. Sadly an unsighted ref meant no try and no sanctions for the Camp Hill player.

The scrum had felt comfortable for most of the game with the line up only slightly changed from previous weeks and the stability and even competition helped the forwards take the fight to our dearest rivals.

The half came with three tries to one in Astons favour and a happy huddle. We knew we had more work to do in getting to the breakdown and the Camp Hill 6 was making himself pretty unpopular with the disruption, legal or otherwise, of Aston ball at the breakdown.

The second half started with a stellar 10 minutes from our 9 Tom Dartnell. He pulled off the cheekiest of off loads out the back of his hand to Jerome, and then in the next phase left his mate calling for the ball as he cut inside. Tom’s fondness for keeping the ball in hand paid off this time as he scampered off towards the Camp Hill defence. Just caught before the line he bounced in the tackle and dotted down. As he scored it he figured he’d convert it too and Aston were into the second half with a strong start.
Kaleil wasn’t to be outdone by his Colts colleague and added his second and, the ascendency confirmed, it was time for everyone on the pitch to put themselves about to try and get in on the score sheet.
This forward ambition led to us nodding off to a Camp Hill line out. They took the ball and Aston, thinking it was out and gone, failed to commit properly to the breakdown and their player broke through the spot where the guard should have been and popped over for an easy try.
We’d vowed to Pete they wouldn’t score again and we’d kept that promise for pretty much a half of rugby. This try proved to be the last Camp Hill would score that day.

I took my leave with a calf strain (55 minutes, something of a record) and to put on this seasons coming fashion accessory; an ice pack taped to the leg. Not being a fashionista I couldn’t go the whole hog and copy last week’s co-captain Mozza in wearing a Peppa Pig backpack for most of the 80 minutes. It takes a brave man to wear that whilst shouting words of encouragement to your team mates.

Suitably attired Moz and I got to see the next Aston try. A superlative offload from Pete Carroll to our captain Max Vlahakis brought us up to 34-12. It came from great work by Rich Bevan, playing provider and creator rather than scorer this week.
Steve Dyer popped up with one not long after, his try scoring thankfully better than his joke telling after the game.
Alex Green, a recent returning refugee from Ludlow, managed to round off the game with a superb score.
From fullback he chased down the Aston right wing using his pace and power to push through and grab a score under the posts.

Inevitably when some teams feel beaten they up the ante physically to try and square the difference and a few strong words were shared between the sides (and the supporters too).
The testament to both sides here is that it didn’t truly spill over and mar the game in any way and everything finished in the proper rugby spirit. The referee controlled the game well and we owe him a big thanks for travelling all the way from Leominster; and to Tony Stafford for calling all the referees in the midlands to save the game.

For Aston it’s a good sign. A big victory over old rivals and a team that are starting to gel, in the bar as well as on the pitch.