Clifton were looking forward to playing Cheltenham as they are one of the top sides in Gloucestershire. They have also through to the semi-finals of the Gloucestershire Cup. We don't often get to play against Cheltenham so it is good to see that they are on our fixture list now.

After an initial training session it was decided to play 3 periods of 20 minutes with rolling subs to keep the boys warm in what were bitter conditions. Cheltenham were up for it from the start and only took a few minutes to score a try against Clifton. Clifton are not used to conceding tries so with the coaches scratching their heads it quickly became apparent what was wrong. Clifton were a player short on the field and were playing 5 against 6 in the scrum...oops.

With numbers back up to 13 v 13 normal service was resumed and Clifton soon equaled the scores with a try (Theo Beavan). The scrums were very well contested by both sides but Clifton seemed to have the edge, even winning ball against the head which led to a further 2 tries before the period was over (Sami Hamid, Connor Massey).

Clifton went into the 2nd period 15-5 up but were aware that Cheltenham were not a team to give up. The second period saw some good rugby by both sides. Clifton only managed to score the one try in this period (Sami Hamid) showing the strength of Cheltenham's defence.

So into the final period. Both sides were struggling with some minor injuries and tired and cold boys. The pitch was heavy mud in the middle making it harder work for both sides which started to show. You might expect one team to run away with tries as the tiredness crept in and mistakes were made. But credit to both sides they kept their defence strong. Clifton managed to get over the Cheltenham line again in this period (Theo Beavon) to finish the day 25-5.

We wish Cheltenham all the best in the Gloucestershire Cup. A Cleve v Cheltenham final would be great match to watch should the both get through to the finals.

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Sami

Theo