Park triumph in trial match encounter

The fixture away at Yardley and District presented a hard challenge first up, with the Birmingham-based opponents playing their rugby in a division higher than the Manor boys.
Head coach Lee Maddison fielded mixed teams integrating players from across the club in all four of the twenty minute sessions, whereas the hosts fielded two completely different teams in the first half and second.
The first score arrived when returning fly-half Jim Aaron threw a loose pass which was collected by Joe Reynolds who powered on an arching run through a procession of tentative tacklers, eventually touching down under the posts, Aaron converted.
The booming boot of Aaron was making massive inroads into enemy territory, as Manor threatened a second score.
But it was a moment of opportunistic brilliance from Adam Jardine which yielded the game’s second score.
From his own 22, the full-back flew past a Yardley winger and courted the attention of four defenders.
Using excellent awareness and skill heading towards the touchline, Jardine grubbered infield, adjusting his run and touching down unopposed for a brilliant try, Aaron converted.
The second twenty minute session was equally as productive, with two tries being scored to extend the visitors’ lead.
From a scrum on the opposition’s 22”, fly-half Dan Joyce released Adam Jardine on a fantastic line which cut the defence in two, to score under the posts, Joyce converted.
Number eight Aaron Willis had a busy afternoon with a series of surging runs from the base of scrums.
It was one such run which paved the way for Park’s final score, breaking through tackles before offloading to the supporting Chris Goode to bundle over and score, Joyce converted.
Yardley’s only reply was a solitary penalty strike.
Luke Powell produced a brilliant display on the flank mixing some huge hits with inventive ankle taps to keep the opponents at bay.
But only minutes into the third session, he bravely caught a kick-off under huge pressure, the ball was turned over and a quickly recycled ball allowed a big Yardley runner to find a gap and score.
After initially letting the game flow, the referee displayed his full knowledge of the RFU law book to ping Park on multiple occasions – a mix of naïve defensive work and, at times, pedantic officiating contributing to a session blighted by stoppages.
Yardley would eventually add two more scores, but their lack of kicking prowess was evident, meaning Park stayed two scores ahead with the match entering its final passages.
The match had many highlights as Park scored some brilliant free-flowing tries and played, in passages, with great continuity and control.
But the penalty count will have to be addressed if Manor are to learn lessons from this otherwise positive start to their 2011/12 campaign.