Cheltenham Babarians 5 Evesham 14 by Sue Payne (Tigers report below)
It was the case of David & Goliath as to a man every Evesham player seemed at least double the size of our boys!!
It became obvious that the Barbarians would not in on strength alone & so some lovely running & team passing ensured an early try from Alex Bates.Second half too saw continued possesion from the Barbarians,but a break away try from Evesham made it all square.A draw looked the likely result until the dying seconds when Evesham gave a final push & scored the winning try. Great team support & a very encouraging performance when at last everything seemed to gel.Noticably despite their size ,Evesham were held in their own half for much of the game…
Cheltenham Barbarians 25 Chipping Norton 10
Cheltenham started brightly with a quick try from Henry T. Evesham quickly replied before another superb team effort & a try from new boy Reece.Almost immediately Evesham replied & all square at half team.
Second half was all to play for but Cheltenham took the inititive & again an inspirational run & try from Henry.By now Barbarians were well on top & some of the best team play we have seen for a long time.Great passing,good back up & a pleasure to watch..
Tom Kent was buzzing & snapping up every loose ball, new boys Reece & Emerson slotted in well. Theo organised the back line & contributed another great try.Robert showed great determination & all the team played their part in a long awaited deserved win!!!
TIGERS REPORT by HUGH WILKINSON
Cheltenham had a triangular tournament with Evesham and Chipping Norton on Sunday. This was the first game back in 2009 and Cheltenham Tigers had a successful weekend defeating Chipping Norton 25-0 and Evesham 35-0.
The team welcomed back several injured players and started the New Year in fine style. The scrum was dominant in both matches and was ably led by Alex Chalklin and Jonty Wilkinson. The line out was again dominated by Ollie Birmingham who was playing again following a broken finger.
The backs played well and will do well in future matches if they are allowed to play on wider pitches where the wings of Dan Tucker and Dewi Edwards can show their pace.
Cheltenham v Chipping Norton (25-0)
Try scorers Ollie Birmingham, Callum Dean (2), Jonty Wilkinson and Dan Tucker
Cheltenham v Evesham (35-0)
Try scorers Ben Pickles, Dan Tucker (2), Dewi Edwards, Alex Chalklin, Max Sayer-Martin and Jonty Wilkinson
