On a beautiful day we came up against a well organised Shelford team. The first half saw us come under a lot of pressure. Shelford were playing their A team pack as a unit and it showed as they brought a lot of pressure to bear from big runners around the fringes and some powerful rucking which kept us on the back foot. We kept them at bay but eventually the pressure told with them scoring two forward based try’s both of which were converted.

After being under the cosh for most of the first half we finally managed to gain some territory and secured good possession near the Shelford try line. After sustained pressure from the forwards hammering away at the try line we span the ball out to Archie who somehow found himself at inside centre(??!) and who ran a hard line through the defence to crash through and score under the posts.Stuey converted to take us in at half time 14.7 down.

The second half saw us take control of the game. We rucked much better and kept possession in their half. A succession of penalties were awarded against Shelford and three or four times we were able to kick to within a few metres of the Shelford try line but we were not able to break through and score the vital try. Fair play to Shelford they defended their line very well whether we went tight or wide . At the end of the game we were left running from our own try line and almost made the crucial breakthrough but in the end it wasn’t to be. We never gave up and the boys can be very proud of the fight they put up in the first half and the excellent performance second half.

The pack in particular were great today, the front row had a tough game. We were up against a big Shelford pack who had a massive day at the scrum and the boys in the front five had to work incredibly hard. In the second half we managed to get on top at the breakdown, which made a huge difference to our game. We have some work ons to do with our rolling maul which is a good weapon for us and with the backs taking the ball at pace; but the lads put a huge shift in today. On another day we might have got the draw or sneaked a win.

Thanks to Shelford who as always were excellent hosts and were very complimentary about our performance after the game. Charlie won man of the match again today for another great performance at full back (not just for having a pink scrum cap as some suggested!) but to my mind there were plenty of candidates out there today who might have got the award.