Aldridge squeeze past Chaddesley Corbett

We were made to fight hard for our victory in last Saturday’s league encounter. It was a bright enough start though, when after just 3 minutes some determined forward driving play and interpassing combined to create space for centre Chris Balmforth to burst through and touch down close to the posts - full back Alex Yates of course added the extras. It appeared all too easy at this stage and the loss in focus and urgency this engendered meant that a number of other opportunities were squandered allowing the home side to re-group and increasingly take a larger share of the territorial spoils. We persisted in trying to run from deep positions when kicking for position might have been more fruitful and as our frustrations rose, handling errors began to creep in. With ten minutes of the half remaining the home side mounted a sustained spell of pressure on the Aldridge line. A strong defensive effort was eventually breached when No10 Rob Burton skipped through to touch down mid way out – he also added the conversion. This shook off our complacency and we at last started to play with more purpose. With a couple of minutes of the half remaining, a rare sortie into Chaddesley Corbett territory resulted in a penalty which Alex Yates duly slotted. In the second period the pack, now playing with more intention, got on top and managed to confine the opposition within their own half for much of the remainder of the match. But even with position and the increasing amounts of possession we couldn’t find a way through to the try line. The constant pressure on the home side did eventually tell however and two more well struck penalties from Alex gave us a 7 points to 16 lead at the end which looks slightly more comfortable than it was.

Jim Chambers