Bring on the Vase!

A misty morning saw the Clevedon boys arrive at Clifton Rugby club on the back of four straight wins but under no illusions that this wasn't going to be by far the toughest test of the season so far. And so it was to prove as a powerful Clifton side ran in 11 tries in a resounding 61 points to 7 victory.

The boys knew all about the danger of Gage Whittingham-Slade having played against him at school level and he showed his ability early on with a blistering run and try in the corner. Within minutes though Clevedon had bounced back, good work across the midfield including an insertion into the line from Luke Palmer released Dane and he showed excellent pace to outstrip the covering defence and score under the posts. The conversion put the boys 7-5 up.

Two strong runs from Gage and a powerful drive from Clifton's barnstorming number 9 resulted in three more tries for the home side and a half time lead of 20 points to 7. The first score of the second half was always going to be crucial and unfortunately went to Gage and Clifton again which led to a tough 25 minutes for the lads, characterised by a number of missed tackles and the concession of a further six tries, Whittingham-Slade finishing with a personal haul of seven.

There were some excellent individual performances across the team, some desperate last ditch defence at times and a fantastic effort from the pack throughout the game in holding their own at scrum time against their bigger opponents. Clifton are an excellent side with some outstanding players and there is no shame in defeat to them, especially with the number of players that we currently have missing due to injury.

The boys are at an interesting crossroads this season - they have shown their ability to score a large number of points against some teams but have a gap to bridge to be able to step up against the very best sides that the region has to offer. The pendulum is undoubtedly swinging in the right direction though and with the Vase and Somerset Cup competitions, plenty of exciting matches ahead to look forward to.

Onwards and upwards!