Rugby Union
Victory boosts Eds’ promotion chances

Market Drayton 5 Edwardians 30

Midlands Four West North

EDWARDIANS gained revenge for defeat suffered at the hands of Market Drayton in October and put some breathing space between themselves and the chasing pack in the race for promotion on Saturday.

The victory leaves Eds second in the table, two points behind leaders Telford with a game in hand and nine points above Cannock in third having played the same amount of games.

A flying start from the visitors saw them dominating in both the scrum and line-out and they were soon ahead when Mark Garrick finished in the corner.

Fly half Dave Gray’s hard work led to the next try when he pressurised his opposite number to charge down a clearance kick and the ball bounced favourably for him to touch down for a score he also converted.

Market Drayton tried to respond by getting themselves on the front foot but Eds defended superbly to contain any threat.

The visitors then dealt another blow to the home side’s hopes when a loose pass was gathered on halfway by winger Dave Coles and he showed great speed and acceleration to score in the corner.

Gray added a penalty to keep the scoreboard moving and the lead was extended further just before the break when quick hands allowed Adam Walker to go in on the overlap.

The hosts looked a different team in the second half, showing some of the skill and flair with ball in hand that they had demonstrated in the previous meeting between the sides.

They scored the first points of the half when loose ball from a line-out was gathered by their prop to touch down.

It had been a physical contest throughout but one that had remained within the laws of the game. That was until the final quarter when the home side lost their discipline and picked up three yellow cards and a red.

Eds also lost a player to the sin-bin in the form of Andrew Jervis who was penalised for a high tackle.

Drayton finished the game with 13 men and Eds took advantage to cross once more through captain Michael Bourke.

Saturday sees Eds play their game in on hand on leaders Telford when they travel to Clee Hill.

A THIRD cancelled match in a row saw Edwardians 10s and 11s take to the training field for a hard, but fun, training session.

The club would like to thank all of the players for attending and welcome newcomers Henry, Cameron and Ross to the team.