B's v Atherstone

Eagerly anticipated top of the table clash away against Atherstone , this was the last game that would end a run of 4 games which started on the last weekend of November with St Leonard's away , where we set ourselves the target of coming away with 4 out of 4 wins and keep us on track and top of the table ahead of the Xmas break ...apart from the postponed Erdington clash we achieved our goal .

Atherstone away is a tough place to visit at the best of time and this time had the added ingredient of being not a season defining clash but certainly one that would have a bearing on positions at the end of the season ,they play rugby in what can be described as a little old schoolish and they always provide a tough challenge and this game proved no different .

So what started as a 20 strong squad at the start of game day had reduced to 16 by kick off ....lads who will remain nameless over indulging on the Friday night Rob will be setting up a new fines category for you :)

Atherstone were soon applying there version of rugby and throwing everything at us ,their big guns running at us relentlessly and little surprise that after 10 mins they had a player sent off , they missed what appeared and easy try scoring opportunity that won their player DOD for not knowing where the line was , the pressure eventually told though and they scored and unconverted try . This proved to be the only score in the first half .

Half Time Score B;s 0-5 Atherstone

The half time team talk was to continue with our defence , but more ball required and then keep the structure , this appeared to have the desired effect as after 5 minutes some strong carries by the forwards and then into the backs finally getting the ball out to the wing for Charlie Wright to score our first of the day .

Score B's 5-5 Atherstone

We continued with this approach which saw us go into the lead after Stoney battered his way over the line , the 3rd consecutive game he has scored in...El Capitan leading from the front , the conversion was missed though , however we were convinced it was over but cant be sure as our linesman was still suffering from his antics in Ibiza and rumour has it was performing the worm on the touchline but not so much damage to his teeth on the occasion :)

Scores B's 10-5 Atherstone

We were then awarded yet another penalty which saw Daz increase our lead . The 14 men of Atherstone weren't done yet and came back again , their big 2nd rows running at us time and again as we have seen before though our defence is good , they eventually scored to the right of the posts which gave their kicker a doddle of a conversion so with 14 minutes the scores were close .

Scores B's 13-12 Atherstone

We dug deep with just 10 remaining on the clock and continued to gain ground and our own front row wrecking machine Call HW battled his way through their defence , taking 3-4 players over the line with him , this left a simple conversion for Daz to add the extra 2 points

Scores B's 20 -12 Atherstone

The last 5 minutes were a little nervy to say the least but our defence hung on and we celebrated a win that keeps us top of the table at Xmas and importantly 11 points ahead of our nearest rivals and our initial objective achieved.

Final Score
B's 20 - 12 Atherstone
MOM Daz but well played all 16 of you
Have a great Xmas boys enjoy the break and get over the little injuries and come back ready for our next big challenge home v 3rd placed Bloxwich the only team to beat us this season on the 6th January