Aldridge battle to victory

Aldridge RFC battled to a hard fought 17 - 0 victory over a big physical Cannock side who's league position doesn't do them justice. No team this season has taken them to the sword, so for Aldridge although missing out on a bonus point which would have put back on top of the league, the win was the most important.

On arrival the pitch looked in great condition despite the weather which had caused the cancellation of a lot of local games, however by the end the of the match it looked like the "Somme" with deep mud and sitting water which suited the larger Cannock players and their game of attrition.

However in 80 minutes of rugby Cannock were left with 3 long range shots at goal and never once found their way in the Aldridge 22, as the work rate of the Aldridge pack in particular stood strong. The tone was set early as Barney stopped their beast of an 8 on full charge and buried him in the mud, and was followed by big hits from Lea Ross, Liam Burlace, Lee Stokes and club captain Mark Smith who returned to the starting line up.

With conditions not suited to our dynamic offload game we stuck with it, with only the last pass failing to be held - it is this attacking style of rugby which the club can be proud of, and although the correct options were not always taken (to offload or not to offload that is the question) the intensity stayed throughout the 80 minutes.

After being held up over the line a few minutes before, Adam Reed scored a fine try just before half time, created by Captain for the day Harry Baldock who injured himself in the process; 5 - 0 at half time against the wind, against the rain and against the slope.

Adam Reed soon added a second try (converted by Brad Russell) and could easily have had a hattrick but for the defence (was offside) of the Cannock back row. Replacement second row Jordan Russell scored his first 1st XV try after great work from full back Adam Morris and Winger Josh Hetherington who both had superb counterattacking games.

With 10 minutes to go, and 17 - 0 up we pushed for the bonus point, and only the final pass and a few indifferent calls from the otherwise excellent referee prevented this.

Final Score 17 - 0

Head Coach Jon Arch:

"Firstly I am massively proud of this club - we have come a millions miles from when i joined the club just 15 months ago; 2 sides (sometimes 3) out every week, training numbers pushing for 30 most sessions, big influx of young new players, and a culture throughout the club of positivity and enjoyment.

I said to Alex Reed just before kick off that i was nervous about today, Cannock were a good physical side with a superb defence, their results show that, i think they will be a tough team for clubs to beat at their place. The conditions were not great, the ball was like a lump of soap, and we are a team of 'ballers' who love to be creative rather than old school stick it up your jumper rugby.

To win 17 - 0, and having 3 tries disallowed and having left another 4 or 5 tries out there which we would have scored in dry conditions shows how good we can be. I was told earlier this season, we are a great attacking side but will concede tries, well today we defended superbly, we won the collisions, we dominated at rucks, and the communication and line speed were superb - all things we worked on in the last couple of weeks.

I told them after that I didn't care about the bonus point, all i care is that we got the win, if we keep winning each saturday then come the end of the season we will be alright. Todays Man of the Match Liam had a superb game, he is 6ft 7in and tackles below the knees, he hits rucks hard from low to high, and today he carried superbly.

Today to me showed the strength in depth we have in the squad; Josh Atkins, Adam Butler, Ben Giles, Ryan Bowen, Alex Yates, Neil Smith, Josh Reynolds, Ed O'Neill and Forest were all unavailable and who have been regulars this season to date. The club is in a great place."

Aldridge 1st XV have a free week next weekend, with many of the players away in Ireland for the club chairmans wedding. However in a first for the club we are putting out an Under 23's side on Friday Night travelling to play Daventry RFC Development XV.