A sunny day at the Portway Rugby Development Centre, and a derby fixture between St. Brendan's Old Boys and Clifton Rfc.

Both sides started well and were equally matched in the early exchanges with neither side able to dominate the play. Mid-week learning paying off with good press defence and 5 mins in Harry T gets things lively with a massive hit on his opposite number, driving him back and into touch. From the resulting free pass the Clifton back line got into their stride causing problems for the home side as Kofi, Harry J and Rayaan link up nicely on the left flank. The ball swept back right and Alf sends Ollie on a direct run up the middle sucking in defenders. Quick to the breakdown SBOB force a penalty to snaffle out the early pressure.

Clifton's defensive effort keeps the ball firmly in the opposition half and forces a scrum, from which Alf throws an audacious dummy and sets off on a maisy run to beat several would-be tacklers and stretch out for the opening try.

From the kick-off another series of phases led to an opening down the right, unfortunately poor handling put pay to a good opportunity. 1 minute later and an almost identical play unfolded from a turnover at the ruck, and again saw a mistake thwart a golden opportunity. This theme continued through the early passages and after some great slick hands the last pass failed to deliver the goods.

SBOB start to excerpt a passage of pressure through good defence and a great battle at the breakdown, driving Clifton back 15m towards their own line and forcing a rushed kick to clear.

Clifton survive the onslaught and Ellis's snipe from the scrum and great support and pick and go from Louis C got us back on the front foot. Ball lost, but quickly won back and another mistake in space left a good attacking chance go begging.

Game paused at 11:00 and the players gathered on half way to pay their respects with a minutes silence.

Play resumed and a Clifton mistake gives possession to the home team, who immediately go through the phases and camp out in the Clifton red zone. Driving towards the line, a great steal from 'the thief' Louis C turns over vital ball and Clifton clearance kick relieves pressure. SBOB's determined to fight back, run the ball from the kick and tip toe through a broken defensive line and go over to equalise.

The next few minutes saw a number of good moves, with Jack and Oscar S linking nicely and Freddie S, Oscar P and Louis PS making good yards. A little frustrating as a number of promising moves were let down by uncharacteristic mistakes. The highlight of this phase was a booming tackle from Ruhan dislodging the ball and flattening the attacker.

A nice line break from Harry J and good strong run from Fred C was halted by a tip tackle and penalty to Clifton. Ref had stern words with the tackler, the boys shake hands and on we go!

The final period started brightly for St. Brendan's as they gained some control. A great break from their 10 left our defenders clutching thin air as he sliced through the line and galloped 40m to put the home side ahead.

The play went back and fore with good handling and expansive play. The Clifton line speed drew a mistake and Ellis, sharp as ever, fly hacked the ball forward and took off to chase it down. With a little dribbling, he wins the foot race and pounces to level the game.

The closing minutes were all SBOB and Clifton defended valiantly to repel the constant attack. Led by backs MoM Jack with 1 certain try saver and 1 likely try saving tackle.

A fantastic match played out by both sides.

Final score: SBOB 10 - 10 Clifton Rfc
Forwards MoM – Thomas Nelson. Backs MoM - Jack Wesley