REVISED MATCH REPORT 10AM 03-10-23

Our first away game of the season took us to Stoke Orchard with a flat and grassy pitch which makes a nice change from the infamous Pats slope. Captain for the day was Dan H who’s been doing the hard yards for our team now for many seasons.

Nothing flashy, all grit, love him! The game was an all-action affair with Pats mounting early pressure and then falling foul of the referee in the 2nd half and Cheltenham North mounting a strong and determined fight-back.

Virtually from kick-off, Rowan seized the ball and made great yards with a heavy carry. Illegally slowed by a high tackle, we were awarded a penalty which we tapped quickly spreading the ball wide to Charlie L on the right wing. He’d plainly listened to the feedback from his previous game to keep the ball in hand and use his prodigious pace as he blasted past the defence to score in the corner. 5-0.

Our next possession saw tight head Tom C pop up in the rather unlikely outside centre channel but, showing his range of skills, he threw in an outrageous side step and charged at the line. Many defenders clung to him but the offload to Aidan was made and over he went. 10-0. The front-row union may have to consider expulsion if he keeps this up!

The pack were enjoying some dominance and turned over a scrum in our own 22. Johnny, sensing the winger was too high kicked behind him. Joseph showed excellent pace and awareness to race onto the ball and found Aidan and Barney on supporting lines inside him. Barney under the sticks, 22-0 and our bonus point try halfway through the first half.

The Pat’s team was shuffled to ensure everyone had decent game time but the pace and skill levels were consistent. A turnover in midfield saw Charlie L race into the danger zone, dragged down just short, he slipped the pass to Joseph in tandem with his fellow winger who completed the score.

Inspired by his first score of the season, Joseph retrieved a kick in our 22, made rapid progress toward halfway and produced a very deft kick up the touch that rolled out inside the 22 giving us the line out in a strong attacking position.

An infringement at the line out gave us a penalty close to the line and Tom C, playing with commendable intensity, tapped quickly and was too powerful for the defence. 32-0
Sadly, we lost Jack, fairly shortly after his arrival on the pitch to an injured shoulder. We hope it’s not too serious.

A scrum on the right saw an excellent 8/9 move with captain Dan carrying strongly and releasing Barney who streaked down the wing, far too quick for the cover for his second try. 37-0 at halftime.

Shortly after the resumption, a multi-phase play saw Callum in space to cross for our eighth try and a 42-point lead. That was however the point at which the Pats were knocked out of their rhythm by a spirited fightback.

It is never clear what is happening in the scrum and one such case resulted in a yellow card for poor Matt who’d only just come on having heroically shown up despite being missed off the original team sheet.

With the Pats down to 14 North added pressure with a sustained attack which with their size counting saw them maintain the pressure and change the flow of the game. Fair play to them for maintaining their focus and mounting a resurgence in the 2nd half putting the Pats under concerted pressure it certainly made for a challenging period.

The Pats managed to wrestle back some momentum and sustain a few attacks of our own. Johnny spotted some space behind and chipped through with Callum showing good pace and power to muscle his way to the bouncing ball.

An excellent team performance and a welcome run-out for lots of our lads against a determined opposition.

Allez les Pats!

Tom Perris