Elite Achieve Rare Double Over Uni Jaegers

This proved an interesting clash of styles and the arch-typical game of two halves.

A fast and open first half saw both sides play enterprising rugby as the game ebbed and flowed. The students not surprisingly wanted to launch flowing running attacks and proved dangerous once they breached the first line of defence. Avon meanwhile were lured into this enterprising style which to be honest wasn't entirely their forte and played into their opponents hands.

It was however entertaining and it was also encouraging to see not only the old campaigners back in action but also a few newcomers swelling the ranks of the Elite. Equally pleasing was to see a decent sized crowd watching the game as the warm up to the 1st team action later in the afternoon.

The writing seemed on the wall as the Jaegers punished Avon's mistakes to score two lovely tries spanning their whole team with fluent handling across the length of the pitch. Two conversions gave them a 14 point lead at half time and the spectators feared the worse for Avon as they anticipated the students youngsters capitalising on tiring Avon bodies later in the game.

Skipper Ben Hurd was having none of that though as his team talk changed the course of the game. "We are getting dragged into an 100 mile an hour game" he told his team "I want us to play at 2 miles an hour!"

It certainly worked as a change of tactics resulted in Avon utilising their experience an power to narrow their play and focus on powerful charges and close inter-passing. This saw players such as Chaz Meddick, Dave Rutter, Mark Davis and Hurd himself come into their own.

It was no surprise when Hurd continued his try scoring feats by powering over for two touch downs to close the deficit. With 60 year old Mr Chairman having to leave the field with a shoulder injury, veteran Steve Bishop brought the average age down by coming off the bench at the tender age of 56!

Meanwhile, the Avon backs still found time to show their qualities with Tom Boreham making his debut for the Elite and Alex Jackman demonstrating his pace out wide. Scrum half Andy "the goblin" Mead also showed that he still retained his predatory instincts close to the line by running a grand total of two metres for his two tries.

A Paul Bates conversion completed the scoring leaving the Elite looking forward to their refreshments after the match, thanking their opponents from the University and looking forward to their next outing in January under lights at Bradford on Avon.