Team captain, Bertie Skidmore, won the toss and elected to kick downhill in the first half hoping to benefit from the slope by gaining territory and hopefully turning the time spent in the oppositions 22 into points. This initially proved an excellent strategy as Matthew Wiacek scored a try in the first few minutes after Harry Searle had carried the ball 15m through some heavy traffic. Josh Richardson slotted the ball through the posts and Clifton were 7 points ahead. After that, things really slowed down as Clifton got stuck down in one corner of the oppositions half of the pitch with Thornbury putting in a sterling defence winning a lot of turnover ball. The Clifton forwards were putting in a good shift trying to keep us in Thornburys half of the pitch and in particular Finnian Morgan made some good yards forward putting his strength and power to good use. Wilbur Leoviriyakit also worked his socks off for the first 15mins winning some good turnover ball. The deadlock was eventually broken as the ball moved out to the other wing and Samuel Wilson, playing at 9, scored an excellent try showing great footwork and speed of thought to find a gap that shouldn't have been there, putting the ball down between the posts to help make life easier for his No 10. Josh slotted the ball through the sticks and Clifton went into half time 14 points in the lead.

The second half proved very different and despite having to run up the hill, Clifton came out all guns blazing with Kledion Dushaj scoring an unconverted try within the first minute of the restart. This was quickly followed up with Ollie Hobson scoring a delightful try that had been very much orchestrated by Oli Corner and his magical footwork that would probably score him a 9 on Strictly Coming Dancing. The conversion was slotted away by the dependable Stan Cannings-Banks and Clifton now had a very comfortable lead of 26 points to nil. Clifton quickly won the ball following the restart and Harry Searle went on one of his long solo runs that he has become renowned for, this time picking up the ball from way inside his own half to give Clifton another 5 points. Benjy Cox was having a great game in the middle of the field spotting gaps and opportunities just playing what was in front of him. The 14 man Thornbury squad were now starting to get tired and Clifton could sense there was an opportunity to put a few more points on the board. Kledion was the first to strike with his second try slotted away by Josh but not to be outdone Harry also wanted a second try to put in his notebook so duly delivered by giving Clifton another 5 points. Josh stepped up and calmly scored to get the extra 2 and Clifton were 45 points to the good. With only a few minutes to go Max Williams put in a great tackle to stop what looked like Thornburys last chance to score some points and it was great to see how defence was appreciated as much by the team as attack. In the last moments Oli Corner scored the try he much deserved with the ball kicked between the posts by Josh to give Clifton 52 unanswered points the game was up.

Thomas Hargreaves, Ollie, Josh and Oli should be congratulated for putting in an excellent shift for Thornbury who were short of a player. They all gave it 100% and at one point it even looked like Thomas was going to make a solo run along the wing to maybe give Thornbury some points before being stopped by some great defensive work. The game was played in good spirits and Thornbury should be commended for keeping their heads held high throughout.