Southam 15 - 13 Old Sills

On fine spring day, in front of a large Farmers Day crowd, Southam gained a valuable win to stave of relegation.

It has been a difficult season for Southam with injuries and unavailabilities and this team looked to be strongest
fielded since the start of the season, with a welcome return for wings Sam Bench & Ally Thorpe and centre Will Wood.

This was on the cards to be a tight match and so it turned out, with neither side managing to get over the line and honours even at the half, with two penalties a piece. Southam 2 for not rolling away, converted by captain Will Grindal and Old Sills 2 for coming in at the side of a ruck.
HT 6 - 6

Wing Sam Bench, who had had a good return, made a superb man and ball, try saving tackle, but dislocated his shoulder in the act and was replaced by Ally Thorpe. Southam were driving Old Sills back in the tackle and overcommitted on a counter ruck on the Southam 22, the ball squirted on the Sills side and they spread it across the pitch to find space on the far side and the wing went around and under the posts for a converted try. Bench's injury seemed to spur Southam on and they kept getting into the Sils 22, only to be pushed back, by unforced errors and penalties, but the pressure told with Grindal converting a 40m penalty for side entry. Southam could not exit after the kickoff and Sils got another penalty for not rolling away. Southam came back strong and kept Sils penned back and Grindal kept the score board moving with a 40m scrum penalty and with 10 minutes to go, another from 30m for a high tackle to take the lead at 15-13. Southam hammered Sils, pinning them back with tackles from Thorpe, wing forwards Wes Hallam and Rich Lloyd Jones. Sils did get out at the death, but Southam stayed calm and a Sils errors ended the game.

A significant win for Southam and the beer tasted all the better afterwards. This win gets them one step further on and a win next week at Leamington will see them safe. A lot of standout performances including centre Tom Grimes, fly half Harry Hewson, hooker Sam Deeming and wing forward Wes Hallam

MOTM Wes Hallam

Next weeks games KO 3pm:
1sts away v Leamington
2nds home v Leamington