With a continued disregard for protocol, AEI won on tour for the third year in a row. A somewhat rushed and cramped changing room combined with a liquid lunch made AEI’s pre match preparation more chaotic than usual. This, combined with the brave decision to play uphill for the first half, led to an early spell of Chorley resulting in a try for the home team. As the first half carried on, AEI began to rouse themselves from a drowsy and dilapidated state to a more organised, if still cavalier, unit. In one of the ever more frequent AEI attacks the forwards won good second phase ball, Tim Sly and Andy Sullivan (surprisingly turning up on the wing) made good ground and released Tony Chronnell for a try in the corner.
AEI started the second half fortified and envigored and their forwards were soon on the rampage. Firstly, second rows Clive Partridge and Stevie Neal combined in a “fat slags” move for Neal to score a captains try, then the whole pack demonstrated their dominance as scrum half Terry Bott claimed a pushover try. Replacement prop Dave Pritchard (making a welcome if rare appearance) then scored a try following a rolling maul and after Stevie Neal had been denied his second try, fly-half Tim Sly used all his bulk and power to crash over between the posts.
AEI’s joint “men of the match” award went to Mark McDonough and Steve Oxberry. Finally, AEI scored a rare victory in the post match “boat race” before retiring to sample the delights of downtown Chorley.