A very scappy game eventually yielded AEI’s third win in succession. With the ground very wet under foot and a strong wind blowing across the pitch, the game was always going to be littered with mistakes but AEI did themselves no favours by conceeding an early penalty in front of the posts. However, the AEI forwards eventually dragged them back into the game as they began to exert dominance in the scrums while the Clive Partridge/Tim Sargent partnership in the lineout worked wonders. Finally, just before halftime, an rolling maul (it must have been a red letter day) ended in a try for Stevie Neal (apologies for getting it wrong before).
AEI made a few changes in the second half but this made little difference to the scrum and penalty count. Nick Elliott extended AEI’s lead with a typically powerful run and then Nathan Yeung finished off a move which had started with Neil Morgan and Paul Eaton deep in the AEI 22. Mark McDonough converted Yeung’s try before Buckby hit back with a try at the end.