Old Patesians – 31
Cleve – 3
In a game which struggled to maintain momentum Pats proved too strong for Clifton and ran in 5 tries in a messy contest interrupted by over zealous refereeing.
With a full strength squad Pats set out to play an expansive game at pace but could not settle and all too frequently over complicated their set moves and tried to force the game.
With some excellent attacking and dogged defence from both sides it took 20mins of play to break the deadlock but when Pats finally kept it simple with a well won scrum on the home sides 22 full back Lee Hathaway popped up on the blind side and received an easy pass from Sam Colbert-Smith to open the scores.
The visitors found another gear and upped the pace with some ferocious attacking moves involving forwards and backs and towards the end of the half the pressure paid off when once again the simplest of moves saw Colbert-Smith find pace man Jonny White on the right wing who scorched past the defence and under the posts taking the score to 14-0 at half time.
Going into the second half Pats tremendous urgency at the breakdown lead to them being continually warned for going offside at the rucks and the game became scrappy as the penalty count mounted against the visitors. Smallest man on the pitch scrum half Nick Chittock was adjudged to have made a high tackle under Clifton's posts and was very harshly sent to the sin bin with the easiest of penalties tapped over for 3 points.
Enraged by the decision Pats charged up field from the re-start dominating territory and possession launching a mass attack with surging runs from forwards George Carrie, Matt Andrew, Jordan Leonard and when Will Safe's charge was stopped 15 metres out he found Jonny White at full speed who touched down out wide to complete his brace.
Newcomer Ben West made a great impression carving his way through midfield and from one such break he found Will Safe on the charge making 40 metres before finding prop Hugh Howes on the left wing showing remarkable pace to crash over in the corner taking the game out of sight at 24-3.
The props excitement got the better of him and he was soon after found handling at a ruck and was given his marching orders swiftly followed by Pats Hooker Isaac Derbyshire for not releasing meaning the visitors completed the game with 13 players. Undeterred Pats continued their all out attacking game plan with second half replacement centre Tom Briscombe making an impact with some mazy runs from deep one of which saw him stopped in Clifton's half and staying strong in the tackle he found his centre partner Ben West in support whose pace was too much for the Clifton defence and he dashed 35 metres for a converted try taking the final score in a difficult and disrupted contest to Pats 31 Clifton 3.
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