As Erdingtons merit table game had been called off this week, they took an away fixture at Edwardians.
Erdington struggled to get enough players for the fixture, as there has been a number of late cry offs, however Edwardians had a surplus of players and lent Erdington enough to ensure the fixture went ahead.
This backs against the wall scenario appeared to give Erdington a great fight and belief within them, although this was going to be a tough day at the office, Erdington came out of the blocks with great urgency and saw them take the game to a well drilled Edwardians team. On one of the forays into the Edwardians half, handling in the ruck saw a penalty awarded to Erdington, Tom Findon acting skipper for the day duly slotted the first 3 points of the game, that was all the scoring for the E’s in the first half with Edwardians running in a number of try’s to see the teams turn around at half time with the score at 3-36 The score did not reflect the amount of hard work and effort put in by every Erdington player, a joy to watch.
After the brief halftime talk the Erdington team again really took the game to Edwardians, not sure what the coaches had said but it certainly seemed to of inspired the team, although from the first half performance they were already working their socks off. The second half mirrored the first with Edwardians coming up against a resolute and dogged Erdington defence but running in a number of try’s that again did not reflect the effort out there.
Moment of the match for the E’s came on about the 70th minute with the game already lost, the forwards took a number of quick balls at ruck time and with great support play, play progressed into the Edwardians 22, another quick ball and Ryan Hatton took the ball under his arm and proceeded to make his way to the try line, a number of Edwardians tried to stop him but his power and doggedness saw him score under the posts with about 4 Edwardians hanging on to his coat tails. Great try which the team and Ryan really deserved.
On the whole Erdington played an outstanding game and would of learnt a lot from yesterday and should be proud of their effort and and never say die attitude.
Special mentions must go to Ben Giles who played his first game for Erdington and could of quite easily been awarded man of the match, another mention must go to Chris Baker who after pulling a muscle in the warm up, again rolled up his sleeves and put in a Sterling performance, taking the fight to Edwardians throughout the game. Whilst the score did not reflect the game the coaching staff were extremely impressed with the commitment and defensive display that Erdington gave on a wet and windy afternoon.