It was a perfect day for Rugby at the Old Bristolians ground in Long Ashton: soft ground, cloud cover, no wind, and some Aero legends hungry for a win. Spoiler alert - it didn’t quite end a perfect day for us Aeros, but it was a good quality game of rugby, and there was a pint at the end of it.
After an intense warmup, and more motivational speeches than I care to mention, the Aero lads lined up with the opponents for a minute silence to mark Memorial Day. The Aeros were fielding a strong 18-man squad, though many of the team are still new to Aeros club, their position and in some cases, the game!
The visitors started the game with a beautifully accurate kick-off from Chards but the OBs were able to capitalise early, orchestrating a well-coordinated attack from the hosts that saw them score their first try, but a missed conversion.
It took the Aero lads much of the first half to get into the groove of the match and, despite retaining possession in the oppositions end for much of the first half, they couldn’t quite get the ball over the line under the high-pressure defence of the hosts. The forward unit came bloody close to powering the ball over the line, with Ed Standing narrowly missing out on the score, but the end of the first half put the OBs in a commanding lead.

We Aeros hit the ground running in the second half as a united team orchestrating a simple, textbook “Hot Hands” play (great call, Jordan Dowe!) - the ball was lined up well through the quick hands of Matty Boles for Jordan to scamper like a gazelle over the line, with Evan Wiliams in support. The strong start by the Aeros put the OBs on the Blackfoot, and with a strong defence the hosts struggled to launch a coordinated attacking play. Kudos to Scott who ate up some catches from the OBs kick-offs - I’m pretty sure one of them quite literally hit you in the face and you still secured the catch! Massive shout out also to Tom Norman, who put in an incredible shift, ferociously attacking the ball and opposing offensive line every time - a well deserved man of the match! We kept pushing as a team and launched some well placed kicks deep into OB land. Even with Pancake (Sam Harod) chasing the ball down and disrupting the hosts to make some ground we weren’t quite able to reach the try line, with Elliot May arguing to no avail that his epic fumble on the line was in fact a perfect try - an even better deserved dick of the day! Everyone was eventually relieved to hear the final whistle go, after the fitness and call for beers finally won.

Summary
Hats off to the old Bristolians - excellent game of rugby played by both teams. The Aeros forwards especially directed some excellent scrums, and the line outs were on point - nice work boys.

Finals score was 44 - 5 - which doesn’t justify how good a game of rugby it was.

Thanks to the hosts for buying a round of post-match beers due to the clubhouse power outage (who carry’s cash anymore?!). Thanks again to the hosts for leaving early, meaning that the Aeros could demolish seconds of the delicious post-match chilli provided. Cheers also to the spectators and water/medic crew for support - couldn’t do it without you!

Secret Item - A CD or DVD