Double Delight On The Road

Tamworth’s 1st and 2nd XV’s travelled to Uttoxeter for a double header at the weekend with hopes of securing two big wins to continue progress in their respective leagues. It was also a big day for Eamonn Carroll and Joe Mason as they were awarded their 1st team ties presented for completing 15 first team appearances in one season.
On an unseasonably warm afternoon Tamworth’s 1st team took to the field having won the toss and elected to play down the fairly steep hill and it soon proved to be a big advantage as Uttoxeter struggled to contain the visitors during the opening exchanges.
Tamworth soon took the lead as Liam Mcgreevy pounced on a loose ball from a Uttoxeter lineout the ball was recycled and as the hosts scrambled to defend Scrum Half Sid Wood found space around the fringes of the breakdown and sprinted clear to score under the posts. He added the conversion himself and Tamworth led 0-7
The lead was doubled mid way through the half as Tamworth won a lineout ten metres out the pack formed a rolling maul that rumbled forward at an unstoppable pace Josh Roe getting the final touch at the back of the maul. Wood slotted the extra’s with a great kick from a tight angle to make the score 14-0 in favour of Tamworth.
Although Tamworth looked comfortably in charge at this point Uttoxeter had other ideas and grew into the game more and more and it took an incredible defensive effort from Tamworth to ensure the fourteen point lead was held onto until the end of the half.
The hosts had the benefit of the hill in the second period and Tamworth knew their defensive skills would be tested to the max as Uttoxeter looked for a way back into the game. They got onto the scoreboard as Tamworth infringed at the breakdown the subsequent penalty was duly dispatched 3-14.
The game had now become a rather scrappy affair as both sides were guilty of unforced errors and it seemed to become a scrummaging battle rather than the flowing game that we had enjoyed in the first half the only addition to the scoresheet during this period was another Uttoxeter penalty 6-14
Tamworth attacked up the hill and defended well when they had to but as it looked like the match would fizzle out without further scoring action Tamworth finally crossed the whitewash again to put the tie beyond doubt another rolling maul was this time pulled down short but as the ball was recycled Ross Bingam found a gap just big enough to dive over to make the final score Uttoxeter 6 Tamworth 19
As the team celebrated their hard fought victory the news came back that the 2nd XV had indeed made it a good day on the road by beating Uttoxeter2nd XV by 31 points to 17.
Nigel Hall commented after saying We were as good as we have been for the first 20 minutes today but then we seemed to take our foot off the gas a bit and struggled to regain impetus again. A fantastic defensive effort from the boys ensured we kept them down to a couple of penalty kicks we didn’t concede any tries. The second team winning has put the icing on the cake really and shows that we have good depth in the squad. They can enjoy the coach journey home tonight and on Tuesday we’ll start preparing for next week.