Sat 5 Apr 2025
The spirit of the Grand National visited Droitwich over the weekend when 30 horse and jockey clad Old Coventrians headed over to their final League game of the season – where a victory would secure second place in the league table and guaranteed promotion to Level 6 rugby next season. And it proved to be a comfortable victory!
It was a sunny but windy day and the home side opted to play with the strong wind in the first half to see if they could put some early pressure on the visitors. But, right from the kick-off by Droitwich, OCs showed their intent when the kick went straight into the arms of winger Ayuk Takang who sprinted through a couple of tackle attempts on a 70 metre dash, only to be hauled down with the line at his mercy. From the ensuing line-out, the home side opted to try to play the ball out of their 22 rather than use the wind advantage and a misplaced chip from their fly half was deftly gathered on his toes by Ollie Cunningham who beat one man, then another and then another to power over the line.
The early pressure was with the OCs who came straight back down the field. Bolstered by the return to the club of Dan Kelly at loose head, the OCs scrum was once again in powerful form, taking one against the head on the Droitwich 22. Slick hands took the ball out to Alex Kelly who spotted a gap on the outside and comfortably rounded his opposite centre to dot over for a second OCs try. Chatty popping over the conversion to give OCs an early 12 v 0 lead. Within minutes, Droitwich were back in it – and once again it was a misplaced chip that lead to their first try of the game. Looking to be equally adventurous, OCs tried to play out from deep in their half but the attempted chip and chase took an awkward bounce on the rock-hard ground and was scooped up by the Droitwich left winger, who had just enough pace to reach the line.
The game continued to be played with enterprise and intent by both sides. From the OCs 10m line, a lovely pop inside by scrum half Sam Miles was picked up by Jordan Kelly whose fantastic out to in line took him straight through the home side’s defence. As he neared the line, a last-ditch tackle by the home fullback prevented Jordan from crossing the line. But with quick re-cycled ball OCs got the ball out to Chatty who scored under the posts to extend his rich vein of try-scoring form. Chatty slotted over the conversion to return the 12-point lead for the OCs. Hard to believe the game was only 15 minutes old! There followed a ding dong battle in and around the halfway line between two uncompromising teams. The tempo remained fast and furious and the hits got bigger. A lovely run by Ayuk out on the left wing almost paid dividends for the OCs, only for the referee to spot a forward pass. Droitwich put the pressure quickly back on to the OCs with a howitzer of a kick from their Number 10 inside his own 22 that drove OCs back towards their own line. With both sides defending superbly, the half finished with no further trouble to the scorer.
Half-time score: Droitwich 7 v 19 Old Coventrians
Coach, Dom Owen, decided to give a red-faced Dan Kelly a break after half-time and brought on the immaculately coiffured Joe Tregartha. OCs got off to a cracking start to the second half with a slick passage of play which culminated in a strong break by Ollie Cunningham who drew in the last defender to pop the ball inside to the ever-present Sam Miles to run it in under the posts unchallenged – seen that try several times this season! Chatty nudged over the conversion to give OCs a 26-7 lead. Although Droitwich finished in the bottom half of the table, it was clear that they had some good young talent in their side and they once more came straight back into the game. The lineout has been much-improved this season with Dan Anderson and Jack Fennell in imperious form. However, a rare mix up from an OCs line-out inside the Droitwich half was picked up by a Droitwich flanker who romped home from 60 metres.
Moments later, OCs butchered another clear try-scoring opportunity with a forward pass given from just metres out – or maybe the wind took it! OCs pressure took its toll on the home team’s defence as a free kick was awarded at a Droitwich put-in on their own 22. The quick thinking of Jordan Kelly took the quick tap, popped the ball to Chatty who glided through a huge gap in the unsuspecting defence, got into the Droitwich goal area and handed the ball off – as he does - to Sam Miles for his second try of the game. There seemed to be no respite for the Droitwich team as OCs took a clean lineout off the top through Jack Fennell, who was having another fabulous all-round game, and the ball was worked down the line to George Curtis who cantered through a gap just wide enough for his sylph-like physique to get through and stroll over the whitewash. The margin was now 26 points. Dom made two more changes, bringing Rees Johns on for Lloyd Bates and Dan Kelly on for the ‘old-stager’ Paul Wilkes!
From the kick-off, OCs mishandled the reception and somehow the ball managed to find its way into the hands of a Droitwich player who had some nice interplay with his forwards and Droitwich were over for their third try of the game. As the game entered the last 10 minutes, a clever read by Sam Miles saw him intercept an attempted Droitwich pass. He then passed the ball out to Dan Anderson on the right wing, who nipped the ball back inside to Chatty who broke through the defence and handed the ball off to Rees for him to cross the line for his first try of the game. The next 8 minutes proved to be a very colourful one for the OCs. After an uppercut on JJ by a Droitwich player in the ruck was not picked by the referee, George Curtis decided to ‘explain’ to the player what he had done wrong which the ref did not take kindly to and gave George a yellow card. Fair play to George this season. I might have mentioned his propensity for getting his name in the book in past seasons but he has not only had his best season in an OCs shirt but he has added great discipline to his naturally aggressive style of play. Two minutes later, the ref brought out his red card as he deemed a tackle on the Droitwich 10 by Josh Kent to be not only high but dangerous – need to take a look back at the video of that one, seemed harsh to everyone on the sideline! Two minutes later the ref shuffled his pack of cards once more to issue another yellow card, this time to captain Sam Miles for what he thought was a high tackle. Sadly, the card meant that Sam missed the last 4 minutes of a season where he had played every single minute of every single game for the Team. Droitwich closed the match with a consolation try against 12-man OCs to secure themselves a bonus point.
Old Coventrians were maybe not at their very best in this match with a number of tries squandered with a forward pass here and a mistimed pass there but the result was never really in doubt for this impressive team. Jack Fennell and Dan Anderson in the second row dominated the lineouts and carried well in attack. The back three of Ayuk, JJ and Ollie were a constant threat – with Alex and George providing a midfield threat throughout. But it was the diminuitive figure of Jordan Kelly who impressed the most from start to finish of this game. Arguably playing ‘out of position’ at flanker since his return to the Club, you would never have known it as he was a real nuisance in defence and sharp and decisive in attack in a very Neil Back-esque performance. So, with Level 6 rugby secured for next season, OCs players, coaches and supporters donned their fancy dress outfits and began celebrating in style.
Full-time score: Droitwich 24 v 45 Old Coventrians RFC
