Five Ways started their campaign in the North Midlands Plate this weekend against Chaddesley Corbett RFC at The Masshouse. With a great start in the league, Ways were looking to show their intentions in the cup with a strong performance.

The game kicked off and Five Ways fielded well and distributed the ball effectively. The first ten minutes saw Ways pile on the pressure but to no avail due to a decent Chaddesley defence. The breakthrough came soon after though when John Mounter timed his pass to perfection to Jess Banner on his shoulder who finished from short range. Ian Chaston added the extras.

Five Ways dominated much of the possession in the early exchanges. The FWOE defence held strong and kept Chaddesley pinned in their own 22 for prolonged periods of play. Centre, Jess Banner made a good break through the centre of the pitch before the ball found it's way to Alex Nock and then on to Martin Harrison who was unfortunately, stopped just short.

The pressure continued to build from Ways though and with it, a second score. Chaddesley cleared their lines which was well fielded by the Five Ways back 3. Ian Chaston took the ball well, passed out wide to John Mounter who found flier John Meredith on the wing who skipped passed his opposite man to score. Again, Chaston kicked the conversion.

Five Ways didn't have everything their own way and Chaddesley made some decent ground deep into the FWOE half. Some ill discipline saw a penalty awarded and the Chaddesley 12 slotted this with ease, pulling back 3 points for the visitors.

Chaddesley had the obvious weight advantage in the pack which gave them the upper hand in the scrums. The Five Ways forwards held their own though and continued to secure clean ball for the backs. Flankers Graham Davies and James Mounter made some hard yards and set up great field position to work from. Kyle Mitchell and Nell Davies also continued to punch holes in the Chaddesley defence.

Joe Brook made a couple of winding runs from 10 but was held up just short on more than one occasion. A Third try did come though after Ian Chaston made a break through the Chaddesley defence, offloading to John Mounter who crashed over from a couple of metres out.

The final try of the half came when a Five Ways maul was collapsed over the try line, resulting in a penalty try being awarded. Chaston was successful with the boot and the ref blew his whistle to end the half, the score 26-3.

A very physical first half had clearly taken its toll on both teams and they began to tire into the second. Five Ways line speed started to decline, allowing Chaddesley more possession and field position than Head Coach Steve Watkins would have liked. Covering tackles were made well though and Ways kept Chaddesley at bay.

The first try of the half came from winger Martin Harrison who sniped down the blindside to finish in the corner. Ian Chaston slotted the conversion from out wide.

The next 15 minutes was very end to end with both teams making ground but sloppy hands often saw play grind to a halt. One thing that Five Ways had in their favour was the clinical finishing of the backs. This was shown when Jess Banner chipped over the top of a rushed Chaddesley defence. Martin Harrison sprinted on to the ball and finished under the posts unopposed, taking his match tally to 2. The extras were added by the trusty boot of Chaston.

The final try of the game came with the last play. A quick tap penalty found its way out to the backs and a well placed kick saw John Meredith collect and race upfield for his second of the game. Ian Chaston brought proceedings to an end with his final conversion of the game, final score 47-3.

Overall, a decent win but Five Ways know they have plenty to work in training to keep results going in their favour.

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