Flooding at Evesham’s ground forced a switch of this scheduled away fixture to home at Weddington for the Old Eds. The Eds got off to a spluttering start and it was Evesham who posted the first points of the afternoon capitalising upon a rare Eds’ line-out error near to their own line: 0-5 after five minutes. The power of Evesham’s scrum was soon evident, and a number of errors left the Eds fighting to find their normal playing levels. Matters started to look positive when, from a line-out, No1 Gareth Cartwright and No4 Ryan Singh each charged into contact for No7 Phil King to exploit a gap in the visitor’s defence for a 25m gain and offload to No14 Luke Roberts. The Eds forced a 5m scrum from which No3 Dave McAdam’s charge set up a ruck enabling No9 Brad Darlaston to dart over the try: 7-5 after 20 minutes, and the Eds were recovering their poise.
From the restart No10 Ryan Southall broke forward to the Evesham 22. Eds support was quickly in place and what looked a likely try was denied by a forward pass. Ed maintained the pressure and a well-rehearsed line-out catch and drive saw No8 Ryan Hatch complete the try: 12-5.
Singh, having an excellent match with ball in hand, returned the restart running like a winger to the Evesham 22. The Eds’ defence was operating well and forcing Evesham to kick for position. However, this literally played into the hands of Eds’ No15 Taine Young, whose positioning and fielding of the ball was top-class all day. The Eds were now into their flowing stride and Prop Adam Wilson’s run set up the ruck from which Southall spotted a gap in the defence to score under the posts: 19-5. From the restart an Eds’ off-side offence led to a successful penalty kick for Evesham: 19-8 at half-time.
Old Eds restarted the second half andNo12 Jack Darlaston’s run soon put the them back in Evesham territory, where play stayed for several minutes until Luke Roberts’ pass set Young on the move. He dummied through a crowded defence for a fine try: 26-8 after 15 minutes, and the try bonus point secured. Singh made another fine run followed by Southall’s 40m break featuring several hand-offs. Eds won a line-out 10m out and the drive was completed by King: 33-8. Evesham defended manfully to prevent any further scores until the final whistle.
Final score: 33-8
Old Eds’ Scorers:
Tries: B Darlaston, R Hatch, R Southall, T Young, P King
Conversions: B Darlaston (4)
Old Eds First Team: G Cartwright, D Oldham, D McAdam, R Singh, B Jones, J Roberts, P King, R Hatch, B Darlaston, R Southall, J Johnson, M Loveday, J Darlaston, L Roberts, T Young
Subs (All Used): J Grubb, N Sephton, A Wilson
Next Match: Leamington (Home) Saturday 07/12/19 2:15pm KO
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