Clifton RFC vs Cleve RFC - Gloucester Cup

The home team were quickly out of the blocks with Jake showing his pace, running round the outside to put some early points on the board. Settling in confidently, a 2nd try followed shortly after, Junior and Philip working hard to recycle the ball well in the middle of the park, good hands in the backs moving the ball along the line for Speedy, to live up to his nickname, running in on the wing.

As Clifton started to move through the gears, Tom Murray spotted some open space in behind the Cleve line and kicked over the top for Isaac to chase, hack through and touch down for Clifton’s third.

Followed by another try from Speedy on the wing, with great supporting play from Jacques, Speedy was able to dummy the pass and run a straight line just inside the defender’s shoulder. to score in the corner.

Midway through the half, forced to play out of their own half, Isaac kicked long, after some scrappy defending by Cleve, he was able to recover the ball and run in for his second try from a kick.

Clifton’s next try was made possible by some fantastic forward play, Max, Archie, Rohan, Philip, Josh and Junior winning a scrum against the head in the middle of the field, for Charlie Vaughan to spin the ball out along the line to give Speedy the space to run in from the halfway line to score his third.

Clifton’s next try came from some determined forward play from Josh, using his height and reading play well he intercepted a Cleve pass close to their goal line and ran in for an easy try.

Teamwork and great supporting play from the handsome winger Wesley contributed to the last try of the half, After some scrappy play from Cleve close to their line, Isaac saw the opportunity to hack through opening up Cleve’s backline for Wesley to run through and tap the ball down.

Early in the 2nd half, deep in his own half, Isaac scooped up a long kick through, showing attacking ambition and a couple of snazzy side steps, he wrong footed the Cleve defenders and ran through the lines to score from inside his own half.

After sustained counter pressure, Cleve scored a deserved try, with Clifton slow to react to a penalty, Cleve passed the ball well to score in the corner.

Clifton’s forwards fought back well with some powerful runs made by Philip, Max, Rohan and Junior, drawing in players and winning valuable ground, despite a strong tackle from Cleve, a superb offload by Charlie Vaughan gave Josh chance to power through from close to score his 2nd.

Josh was soon in the action again, after strong play by Philip and Archie recovering the ball at halfway, Tom moved ball quickly down the line to Josh who was able to use his strength to run in from just inside the half.

A moment’s lapse and some poor tackling let Cleve in for a 2nd, which saw the start of a spirited fight back from the visitors.

Clifton’s backs continued to dominate well into the second half, running a clever attacking line and showing slight of hand Tom Murray opened up the Cleve back line to run through the hole unopposed and score.

Shortly after, the backs were at it again, Charlie Matthews starting a passing move that Isaac finished off showing a clean pair of heels to the Cleve back line, scoring in the corner.

Not one’s to be outdone, some great interplay from Wes and Luke, saw Luke run in for great team try.

As we neared the final whistle, Clifton scored their last try as a ballerina like Jake twisted and turned his way through the Cleve defence.

Overall, a convincing win from Clifton, showing great team spirit, good ball skills and creative attacking play. All the boys played brilliantly, with stand out performances from newcomers Max and Junior whose physical presence in the forwards gave Clifton the possession they needed to be dominant.

Written by Wesley Paul, the handsome winger!