A day of torrential rain welcomed Old Yardleians to Stourton Park as they looked to dampen Stour’s emphatic start to the season, last year the honours were split, with both sides winning their home games in contrasting conditions.

The game started with Stour kicking off and immediately claiming the ball through a strong chase, the forwards then set to work with some hard carrying and ferocious clearouts at the breakdown before the ball was unfortunately knocked on as Stour had started to build momentum.

The first scrum, an area where Old Yardleians had held the edge last season, set an early precedent for the game as the Bowser brothers supported by Gains St Aubyn drove the scrum back at a rate of knots before winning a penalty for their efforts. Further Stour pressure was rewarded as Chase Edwards picked a beautiful line through the midfield to dive under the posts for a converted try. The Lions continued to control the play with the half backs ensuring the game was played in Yardlians territory as the forwards began to assert their dominance. A 5m scrum allowed the tight five to go to work as Meakin managed to dot down to extend the lead with another conversion added by Wainwright.

From the kickoff the Lions worked the ball through the phases before Doolittle made a line break through the midfield, he was ably supported by fly-half Williams on the inside who had sufficient pace to outrun the covering defence to dot down once more. A rare lapse in concentration followed as a well judged up and under from the Yardelians scrum-half was not dealt with as the opposition winger was first to react and, showing some impressive footballing skills, was able to reduce the deficit with a well finished try.

Half time: Lions 24 - 5 Old Yardleians

The second half proved to begin a more even affair with Yards coming back into the game through some hard carrying from the away pack. The first 20 minutes remained even as both sides looked to move the ball into opposition territory as the game was played predominantly between the 22s. Eventually the Lions worked their way into the Yards 22 as another hard line by Chase Edwards cut through the defence before a deft offload to Williams allowed him to complete his brace and secure the bonus point for the Lions. A rolling maul minutes later saw Meakin again drive over which appeared to put the game to bed and suggested the floodgates may soon open. This was immediately dispelled as a rare Matthew Poole tackle saw him yellow carded mere minutes after entering the fray which saw the Lions finish the game with 14 men.

Credit to Yardleians though who came back strong and some good link up play between the backs and forwards put their centre away in the corner for a well worked try.

There was, however, time for one more foray into the Yards 22 by the lions who managed to put away winger Fallows with the last play of the game to finish up 44-10. This was another strong all round performance from the Lions with a number of notable performances. Man of the match, however, went to Chase Edwards whose hard running consistently caused problems for the visiting defence.

Next week the Lions travel to Shrewsbury in the league.

by Peter Trinham