For the first half it was a real battle up front with the Clifton pack taking on lots of short balls and driving it in to the first up defence. Lots of good carries from the forwards meant that we could build pressure on the Old B’s and came straight back at them to score after they had crossed the line. The fact that the score was 7 -5 to us at half time shows how close it was in the first 40 mins. Clifton should have been at least  another score up by half time with the last quarter of the first half being spent camped on the OB’s try line, tirelessly smashing down the defence. We did cross the line legitimately on two occasions but the ref did not agree with us !!! Perhaps a little bit more composure would have seen the try scored and given us a platform in the second half.
 
In the second half the game started in a similar fashion with a forward contest developing. It was towards the end of the 3rd quarter that the fact that the old B’s had started 5 back row players instead of a full front row started to show. Alongside some good backs play the OB’s took their chances and scored some good try’s. Clifton did not give in at all and with an increasing amount of players playing out of position continued to challenge the contest. Graham Hardy in the centre took on some strong runs and matey boy on the wing , from Exeter uni , also made some very good runs. All the backs contributed to getting stuck in as we all struggled with a very fit and mobile OB pack ( they would have been considerably reduced in impact had we been able to scrummage them off the park !!) . The last mention must go to  our full back who in his absence was sorely missed ( is that what you told me to say Tab’s ? ) .  This team will definitely be ours for the taking if we put out a strong team and are able to scrummage, in fact as a No 3 I can’t wait for the opportunity for a little pay back !!

Alistair Baker