A strong second half led by the pack, exerting serious pressure, underpinned a Clifton come back from being fourteen points adrift midway through the first half.

In the early stages Clifton moved up field courtesy of Old Reds giving away penalties and taking a yellow card. Pressure told with outstanding number eight Jake Holcombe going over and Ollie Millner converting.

The Reds responded with three tries ins 15 minutes, all converted by Jack Gaper, to open up a comfortable lead. A Clifton knock on from a kick gave territory for Oliver Stratton to grab his chance, with Jack Gapper landing the first of four successful kicks.

Hooker Tom Ford added a second with centre Jon Cook bursting over for a further try after a long raking kick set up good field position.

Holcombe again though showed his strength by forcing his way over with an unconverted try.
The strength of the home pack propelled prop Jake Buckley over with Millner converting to reduce the gap to two points going in to the half time break.

Millner added a penalty before the ever present Holcombe completed his hat trick with replacement fly half Tom Quinlan adding the two. After intense pressure Quinlan then dummied his way over and converted his own try.

Right at the end a brave comeback by the Reds gained them the try bonus point when Cook crossed.

Reflecting on the game Coach Luke Cozens commented,”The first half was open and we were too soft in allowing Old Reds to seize on chances to score. Once we became more cohesive momentum was gained and having scored twice before half time we became the dominant team for the rest of the game and exerted control through a strong forward performance. Definitely plenty of positives to work on for coming games”.

Story: Roger Opie
Photo: Ian Clark