Thunder Rolls in - Bullet Dodged - Bonus Point win

The first half was one all the players will want to forget, tackling from both sides seemed optional. This was a very much changed Birmingham Exiles side to the one we faced earlier in the season, with a back line full of youth, and most importantly pace, and buoyed by a new coach who appears to have galvanised the squad. Aldridge's first half was a mix of the sublime to the pure downright crazy... missed kicks and tackles were intertwined by spells of pure genius of the king of rugby we have come to expect from the side this season. But at half time 27 - 19 down we had a mountain to climb... (Aldridge scorers Ben Drinkwater, Penalty Try and Ben Husthwaite)

Would a few chosen words at half time galvanise the team... ermm not immediately as from the kick off Exiles scored another good try out wide; 32 - 19 and queue lots of whooping and holla-in from the Exiles number 8, their bench and their spectators. However with the realisation of the last 7 months hard work close to going out of the window, there was a rumbling of THUNDER in the distance... Enter the game Josh "Thunder" Reynolds back from his ankle injury! Suddenly we are making yards in midfield as the THUNDER roared, the Aldridge pack (who to give them credit had controlled the set piece in the first half) began to punch holes at will and Lea Ross is able to start giving quick ball to Fly Half Adam Reed... 50 minutes on clock - following another 40 yard run from Reynolds and the resulting scrum, Ben Husthwaite controlled the ball at 8 for his second push over try of the game, and then with 60 minutes on the clock an exact repeat... 20 minutes to go 32-29 to exiles, but Aldridge were on top; the defence was now looking solid and the set piece still in command plus players looking now to work rather hide ! !

Then with 10 minutes left on the clock, and following a sustained period camped in the Exiles 22, the ball was spread wide, and Tight Head Prop Ellis Garratt was on the wing to collect the final pass and score. Adam Reed kicked the conversion - Aldridge lead 36 - 32...

The final 10 minutes were again controlled by the Aldridge forwards as they looked to extend their league, however following 2 tries not being awarded for being held up over the line, the final whistle went - bullet dodged - bonus point win.

Head Coach Jon Arch...
"Josh made the difference, simply when the "Thunder"is rolling and is in that mood he is unplayable. I wasn't happy at half time and told the players so - we were not playing as a team; the warnings of complacency i had given all week were ignored. However to give Exiles credit their backs were as good a back line we have faced all season, the had great hands and pace - and at this level pace is a huge weapon.

This has to be a blip, we cannot play like that again this season if we want to achieve what we aspire to; we were void of passion and pride in the first half and that is not acceptable. Thankfully we woke up in the second half. Yes we had regular players missing, but we have enough quality to cope elsewhere - that is why we have a 2nd team, that is why we train twice a week - it came down to desire - in the first half we didn't want it enough. Rant over ! There were a lot of positives, the set piece was superb throughout - 3 pushover tries and a penalty try bear testament to that, plus the fact we stole or disrupted nearly all the Exiles line outs. Dan McKenna had his best game in attack and defence for a while even though he didn't get on the scoresheet; and it was nice to see players other that Lea Ross and Adam Reed putting in big smash tackles.

We know we have got to improve this weekend against what all be a big physical Cannock side. I fully expect a positive response starting at training on Tuesday night."