Midlands 2 North – October 21
This weekend Arnold‘s Pavs welcomed Sutton Coldfield RFC to The Stump in round seven of the current Midlands 2 North competition.
Many seemed nonplussed that the game was still on given the national and local deluges of the last few days, this being testimony to the fantastic work done by the team at Howard Marshall Engineering in bringing the pitches up to a high standard over the off season.
The game also was a celebration for Pavs stalwart Steve Allen who was making his 300th first team appearance in the green and red – a great player as well as a great bloke who extols all of the values of community rugby in its purest form.
Pavs got off to a bright and busy start with Phil Eggleshaw touching down and George Billam adding the extras to give the home side the lead at 7-0 on ten minutes.
Eight minutes later hooker Owen Taylor completed a powerful forward drive to advance Pavs lead to 12-0.
Sutton Coldfield then came into the game and scored via a number of well executed rucks to narrow the lead to 12-5 on thirty five minutes.
Not to be outdone Pavs struck back on thirty nine minutes when Owen Taylor went in for his second try following another well constructed forward drive. With George Billam in fine kicking form the extras were duly added to give Pavs a 19-5 lead at the break.
Following the break, Pavs were very much on the front foot. On forty six minutes, wing Alex Rimmington finished off a superbly created backs move to put Pavs 26-5 up with the Billam extras.
Steve Allen took a break and was replaced by Dan Hyams and the Sutton Coldfield having been under immense pressure now found themselves in trouble with fresh legs on the front row.
Further changes came on fifty five minutes, with talented young centre Morgan James making way for Harry Kerr and Alistair Plant giving the impressive Theo Collier a break.
On the hour, flanker Josh Flanagan fought his way over following another lineout forward drive and with the now customary Billam conversion take Pavs 33-5 in front.
On sixty five minutes, the strong running Matt Molyneux cut through the Sutton Coldfield defence to touch down between the posts. George Billam added the extras to take Pavs pretty much out of sight at 40-5.
With Pavs now running rampant, Alex Rimmington crossed the whitewash on seventy minutes and Aussie Tom Gladwin battled his way over for his first try for the club on seventy five minutes. Billam added the extras to give Pavs a 54-5 lead with minutes left.
Steve Allen made a reappearance to round his 300th appearance for the team to the pleasure of the gathered throngs.
With seconds left, Sutton Coldfield’s very sharp full back chased down a kick, before being illegally tackled on Pavs line. Very unfortunately, replacement Harry Kerr was wrongly identified as the perpetrator and sent to the bin having only just recently come on. A penalty try was awarded to bring the final score to 54-12 in favour of the home side.
All in all, a fabulous day for Pavs. Confidence has grown substantially with the group in recent weeks. They are a young and immensely likeable squad who not only revel in each others company, but are now putting things together skilfully on the pitch. Much of the credit must, of course, go to the coaching panel of Phil Eggleshaw and Jonty Green as well as “The Guru” Pat Billam, but the lads can congratulate themselves for maintaining their energy and positivity no matter the circumstances. Pavs now have a week off before playing West Bridgford RFC at on 4th November – sure to be a spicy affair!! Onwards …. !!!!
NB In recent times we have selected forward and back of the match. This is now impossible because the whole squad deserve the plaudits. Just a massive well done to everyone will have to suffice!!
Squad : Steve Allen (55 mins), Owen Taylor (2 Tries), Jake Baldry, Theo Collier (55 mins), Tom Gladwin, Josh Alton-Smith (VC), Josh Flanagan (1 Try), Phil Eggleshaw (1 Try), Ben Taylor, George Billam (7 Conv.), Alex Rimmington (2 Tries), Doug Billam (C), Morgan James( 55 mins), Noah Bhatia, Matt Molyneux (1 Try)
Replacements : Harry Kerr (55mins), Dan Hyams (55 mins), Alistair Plant (55 mins)
Paviors Rugby Club play at Burntstump Hill, Arnold, NG5 8PQ and the club runs over twenty teams.
New players are always welcome – girls, boys, men & women, there is a team for all.
Further information about the club including contact details can be found on http://www.paviorsrfc.co.uk/ .
