As the score line suggests this was a close fought battle with both sides slugging it out right up to the final whistle before the result was certain. For the second week running we faced a team with plenty of pace out wide which always posed a threat but with our forwards in good form we were able to some degree contain the menace and also conjure up a fair supply of possession ourselves. A Harry Baldock penalty gave us the lead after 1 minute but Yard’s riposte was almost immediate, with a try - converted - between the posts. The lead was once again swiftly restored by a fine individual maisey run from Adam Reed which took him from our own 22 right through the opposition to scamper over between the posts leaving a simple conversion for Baldock. But once again Yards response was swift with a try in the corner. We then had one of our best spells of the match creating a number of golden opportunities which could have put us out of reach but the final execution was missing and the chances went begging. Baldock eventually crossed to give us the narrowest of a 15 - 12 lead midway through the half which we clung on to until five minutes before the break when the visitors ran in a brace of converted tries to give them a comfortable but flattering 15 – 26 lead at half time.

We had much the better of the second half as we set about chipping away at the deficit. After 10 minutes had lapsed, off the back of a prolonged forward effort, Eddie O’Neill grounded mid-way out. Yards determinedly clung on to their lead though and it wasn’t until the final ten minutes that the scoreboard began to tick over again. A Yards penalty increased their lead further but with a couple of minutes remaining Chris Balmforth drove over and a Baldock conversion meant we were only a couple of points adrift with a minute remaining. We came straight back from the restart, won a penalty within kicking distance but it wasn’t to be a happy ending – the kick shaving outside the posts. Final Score – Aldridge 27 points – Yardleians 29 points.

Jim Chambers