A very late change in fixture and drive down the road from Old Warwickians to Warwick did little to upset AEI’s usual exhaustive pre match routine. The game marked Paul Thompson’s farewell appearance for the club before his departure to pastures new across the Atlantic but, unusually, he didn’t find himself on the scoresheet. Indeed, on a day when the backs were somewhat disjointed it was the AEI back row who stole the show with No 8 Andy Sullivan and replacement flanker Steve Hudson particularly excelling.
AEI were first on the scoresheet with flanker Chris Hague claiming a pushover try after excellent work by the front five. However, some missed AEI tackles saw Warwick then score between the posts and the conversion put them ahead. Warwick retained their lead for much of the first half but then a penalty close to the Warwick line and some unselfish work by Steve Oxberry gave Andy Sullivan his first try.
The second half was all AEI and although the backs were improving they could still not find the fluency to break through. It was left to Steve Hudson (making a rare and welcome guest reappearance) to show the way with a strong run and a try between the posts which Jocky Corbett converted. The pack continued to show their dominance with a second pushover try, this time to Sullivan, and then Sullivan scored again with a flamboyant if unnecessary dive to complete his hat-trick.
In the bar afterwards, there was much celebration at the departure of Paul Thompson with some recounting their fond memories of his running and try scoring antics while others were glad to see the back of his catching and passing skills!