The Pavs travelled to Staffordshire to take on Tamworth RFC in round 9 of the Midlands Regional 2 competition.
Last season both sides won their respective home fixture, so a tight game was always in the offing.
From the start Tamworth set off with plenty of very vocal vim and vigour. Pavs weathered this early storm before beginning to dominate field position. They went ahead on seventeen minutes with a George Billam penalty, but as these things go Tamworth struck back with a penalty in almost their first venture into Pavs half, so 3-3 on twenty five minutes. In the next fifteen minutes Pavs pressed for a score, but were kept at bay by the home side whilst also accruing two more Billam penalties to give them a 9-3 lead at the break. During the break prop Craig Ward was replaced by Tom Ryan due to injury.
Within minutes of beginning the second half Pavs were confused how they had so upset the official that he begun to penalise them in every aspect of the game. With forty five minutes on the clock Will Taylor was sent the bin for absolutely innocuous and marginal offside which Tamworth put back into the game at 9-6. Pavs were then awarded one of the two penalties they received in the whole of the second half. Pavs chose the lineout option that eventually led to Morgan Jones touching down to give Pavs a 14-6 lead.
With fifty minutes on the clock skipper Doug Billam suffered a recurrence of the shoulder injury that has plagued him in recent times and was replaced by Ben Taylor. From this point on the penalty count ramped up exponentially, with the official not allowing Pavs to compete or attack in any meaningful way. Two of these penalties put Tamworth very close at 14-12 with twenty minutes to go.
If Pavs felt this was bad, worse was to come. The next five minutes saw the referee inexplicably bin Eddie Holmes for what he deemed a simple offside, Phil Eggleshaw for goodness knows what, and a second for Will Taylor largely because he complained about a decision.
All three decisions were highly questionable and evidence as if it was needed that the official had lost control of himself and the game. The valiant 12 that Pavs were left with battled away and kept Tamworth out.
Tamworth were then awarded penalty right in front of the posts on seventy five minutes. (No shock there then) Eggleshaw and Holmes were restored with five minutes left and Pavskept at it without receiving anything positive for their efforts. Final score 15-14 to Tamworth. A hugely frustrating afternoon for Pavs and their supporters, one which it is perhaps best not to dwell on.
This coming week Pavs sees travel to Melbourne RFC in the NLD Cup on Thursday evening(21st November) 7.30 kick off, before going over to Lichfield RFC the Saturday after, 30th November 2.15 kick off. All support gratefully accepted.
Squad
Craig Ward (Rep ;40 inj)
Owen Taylor
Archie Hall
Tom Gladwin
Sam Bradley
Morgan Jones (1try)
Jacob Playford
Phil Eggleshaw
Jonty Green
George Billam (3pens)
Tom Davies
Doug Billam (Rep 50 inj)
Will Taylor
Ed Holmes
Dan Flint
Impacts
Tom Ryan (40)
Ben Taylor (50)
Theo Collier (unused)
Forward of The Match – The Pack
Back of The Match – The Back Line.
