It was a Warwickshire derby for the Nuns as they travelled to Silhillians in a fixture which could either push them away from the lower sides or pull them into a tight situation with Sils and Derby chasing hard. A couple of changes to the team saw Oli and Benji Mitchell return in the pack and Ryan Preston in the backs. A game for the purists ensued in wet conditions with the Nuns coming out on top 31-20 with five tries from Tom Aherne, Ben Dawes, Ryan Preston and a Ben Kirby double. Lucas Brindley added three conversions.

Before the game the referee had deemed the 1st team pitch as unplayable and so the game was moved to another pitch that was drier. The Nuns kicked off the match playing up a slight slope with no wind but consistent drizzle.

The host were the first on the score board when they were awarded a penalty 25m out in front of goal. Their kicker was successful with his attempt to take an early 3-0 lead after 3 minutes.

The Nuns had their first sustained attacks straight back and after winning a couple of penalties, took a tap play and were held up over the line allowing the hosts a goal line drop out to clear.

Sils missed a chance to extend their lead when a penalty kick was pulled wide. They did, however, extend their lead in the 17th minute when after going through a number of phases in the Nuns 22m they worked an extra man out wide to score. Unconverted but an 8-0 lead.

The Nuns got their first score of the day with an immediate response. As Sils gathered the ball near half way Preston picked off a pass to run through and under the posts for a simple Brindley conversion, 8-7 after 19 minutes.

The Nuns then took the lead in the 22nd minute. Having stolen a home line out near half way, Brindley put in a cross field kick which was gathered by Bennett-Allcock. He beat two defenders before drawing the last man to feed Kirby for the try. The conversion went across the face of the posts but took the score to 8-12.

In the 28th minute Silhillians were reduced to 14 men when their scrum-half was red carded for a stamp at a ruck.
The Nuns were then reduced to 14 men themselves on 30 minutes when Wood was yellow carded for a ruck offence with the Nuns on the front foot.

The Nuns extended their lead in the 35th minute when Kirby got his second. From a scrum in the Nuns half, Brindley put a kick down field which was allowed to bounce and when the Nuns oncoming chase gathered the ball Preston slipped a pass to Kirby who ran in at the corner for his second. Brindley added a well struck conversion to take the lead to 8-19.

The Nuns finished the half on the front foot with some pressure on the home line but couldn’t get another score before the whistle.

Just a couple of minutes in to the second half and the Nuns built some pressure on the home defence. After three scrum penalties were awarded the ball was moved down the blind side for Bennett-Allcock to get within 5 metres of the line. Dawes then picked his angle towards the try line to accelerate for the last 5 meters and cross for the bonus point try. Brindley’s conversion fell short but the score was now 8-24 after 48 minutes.

The Nuns were reduced to 14 men in the 51st minute when Chawadya caught a falling attacker high in the tackle. The ball was put to the corner and Sils worked a little peel down the short side to score in the corner unconverted leaving the score 13-24 after 54 minutes.

In the 55th minute after a passage of aerial ping pong the Nuns were following up a kick 40m out when Sils tried to return the ball only for it to strike Eales on the head. Aherne picked up the loose ball to charge in from 35m out under the posts. Brindley added the conversion to take the score to 13-31.

Sils didn’t have long to wait to close the gap and from a line out 30m from the try line, they ran a strike move which put their wing through a gap who drew the last defender to feed the supporting player who crossed to the side of the posts. With a conversion added the score was now 20-31 on 59 minutes.

The Nuns then had a chance to score again from a penalty put to the corner but after recycling the ball through a few phases turned it over to allow Sils to clear.

With tempers starting to fray after a few minor skirmishes things got worse when Wood was shown a red card for a punch in retaliation on 68 minutes leaving both sides with 14 men.

Sils worked their way up field after another penalty and set out to close the gap on the score board. The Nuns defence knew that they had to keep the hosts out as a further try would put them in range for a losing bonus point as well as a four try bonus point. As they tackled and harried the attack Bennett-Allcock was penalised for a deliberate knock on when going for the ball. A penalty awarded and the Nuns were now down to 13 men on 70 minutes.

With the challenge set the Nuns got to work. Wave after wave of attack was repelled by the 13 men, a few more penalties were conceded but back on their feet they got. Finally, they forced a knock on and the final whistle was blown after a couple of minutes extra time.

A big win for the Nuns, in tough conditions which didn’t allow either team to be too expansive on the day.

The Saxons struggled in the wet at home to a bigger Atherstone side and went down 31-10.

Post match, head coach Huw Thomas’s added “Very proud of the lads today in what we targeted as a must win match in the last quarter of the season. We coped well with going down in numbers on a few occasions and whilst we did cope well we also need to not put ourselves in that position. To defend as resolutely as we did in those last 10 minutes, the lads showed great heart and determination. 5 league points takes us 12 away from them which was our priority.”

1 James Redman 2 Louis Addleton 3 Ben Dawes 4 Benji Mitchell 5 Tom Aherne 6 Oli Mitchell 7 Zeb Gibson 8 Martin Wood 9 Tobias Trafford 10 Lucas Brindley 11 Travis Bennett-Allcock 12 Tom Eales 13 Ryan Preston 14 Tak Chawadya 15 Ben Kirby; 16 Jack Iles 17 Elliott Brown 18 Mike Volaikisuva