Large crowd sees Birstall win the Junior Vase Final

RFU JUNIOR VASE MIDLANDS

FINAL BIRSTALL 13

CLEE HILL 12

WITH most organised sport being put on hold this weekend, Birstall Rugby Club’s Midlands Junior Vase Final versus Clee Hill RFC of Shropshire drew in a large crowd at the Coop Sports Ground on Saturday.

Both teams, top of their respective leagues at the start of the day had progressed through several rounds, taking them to all corners of the Midlands in order to reach the final.

Birstall, playing into the wind, kicked off and saw early phases of possession fail to materialise into points as Clee Hill’s defence stood firm. Clee Hill initially having the upper hand in the scrum but the Greendog pack were on top in open play.

This pressure from the Birstall forwards with ball in hand led to the first Clee Hill mistake as they gave away a penalty in their own half. Birstall cocaptain Zack Minton pointing to the posts, however fly-half Kieran Warner saw his effort marginally miss left.

Birstall’s movement of the ball lead to several half chances, first to Rhys Chivers followed by Adam Ord and

Ryan Exley but once again some excellent defence and covering tackles from the visitors left Birstall frustrated.

The Greendogs were however the first to put points on the board through Dan Riley who from distance and into the wind saw his penalty sail through the posts following a Clee Hill infringement. This gave Birstall the initiative and they continued to put Clee Hill under pressure.

Some great attacking play set up the ball 5m from the tryline and after some well worked forward play, back rower Ryan Brown managed to force his way over the whitewash to score the first try of the game. Riley converting.

Clee Hill looked dangerous on the counter attack and were not afraid to run the ball from deep.

On two occasions their centre and winger got outside the Birstall backs only for good covering tackles thwarting their attempts. Half Time score 10-0 Birstall.

Birstall were buoyed by their first half performance and looked to put the game to bed early in the second half, however Clee Hill had other ideas. In contrast to the first half Clee Hill were now the ones dominating possession. Some strong running lines and strong set piece put Birstall under pressure again and again.

Birstall’s job got harder in the 48th minute as fly-half Warner was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock on as Clee Hill had numbers out wide. Warner looked a frustrated figure as he walked to the sideline. With the man advantage Clee Hill looked to get back in the game however some resolute defence kept them at bay.

Birstall thought they had weathered the storm as they returned to 15 men, only to have a second player sent to the bin within seconds. Winger and top try scorer Rhys Chivers being shown a yellow for the same reason Warner had 10 minutes earlier. This time the referee felt this had prevented a certain try and made his way to the posts to award Clee Hill a penalty try.

With the score now 10-7 the game became a tense affair with both side making mistakes and the game lost some of its fluidity. A series of set pieces were swapped between the teams, one of which set Clee Hill up for an attacking opportunity, with numbers out wide Clee Hill scored in the corner despite Birstall’s best defensive efforts making the score 10-12. Crucially the conversion was missed meaning

Birstall were still within a penalty of the lead.

With six minutes to go Birstall didn’t give in and were able to enter the Clee Hill half for the first time in a while. A strong couple of scrums set the Greendogs up in the centre of the pitch, a Clee Hill infringement leading to a penalty just left of the posts. With the eyes of the crowd on him Riley stepped up to kick the points giving Birstall a 13-12 lead.

The final few minutes were mainly played in the middle of the pitch. With the clock running down Clee Hill conceded a penalty on half way, with the referee indicating time was up replacement fly-half Tom Knott sent the ball into the onlooking crowd as the full time whistle blew. Cue scenes of celebration from all around.

Credit to Clee Hill who were by far the strongest side to have visited the Coop this year and despite their loss were fantastic guests, even joining the Birstall Boys for several sing-alongs in the bar afterwards.

As Midlands Junior Vase winners, Birstall will now face the Northern Junior Vase winners Leeds Corinthians for a place in the RFU Junior Final at Twickenham.