A hastily arranged friendly mini-tournament took place at Southam when two visiting teams showed up with Southam only able to field 28 for both matches. In the event, Southam loaned AEI a 15th player and three mini games (20 minutes per half) took place with AEI opting to play the first two matches against first Southam and the Old Newtonians.
AEI’s winning performances were based on an unyielding forward display (second row Lee Clark winning the man of the matches decision); the abstract that forwards win matches and backs (in particular Messrs Bott J (2), Bollen (2) and Jenkins) decide by how much becoming reality. Such was their dominance that AEI were able to run the clock with a series of scrums after Southam were continually penalised for varying infringements. The obdurate defence demonstrated in the final minutes of the Old Newtonians match was a testament to the strength and discipline of the entire team and the match itself was notable for two instances of AEI backs holding up the opposition over the try line in the space of 60 seconds.
The first match against Southam 2 was a story of missed opportunities with both sides guilty of dropping or failing to make the final pass – AEI’s backline fortunately proving less wasteful than their opponents. It became apparent that the pack power demonstrated by AEI needed to be countered by Southam putting width on the ball at every opportunity but Southam’s ambition was not matched by their handling. backs Joe Bott, Robert Bollen and Tidy But scored with Gaz Bott adding a conversion.
The joy and effort in winning the first match was almost undone by the first few minutes of the second game, with AEI failing to clear their lines from the kick off, and then conceding a simple crash ball try from the resulting scrum. However the backs again managed to finish off some fine work from their forwards with Bott J (converted by Bott G) and Bollen crossing the line to put AEI in control of the match.
Both games were bruising but ultimately satisfying encounters and ended with only one slight injury worry for Udall (who was distraught that the referee disallowed an opportunistic score from a Southam scrum on their 5 metre line).
The next fixture is a return to the League campaign with AEI hosting Spartans at their recently repaired Hillmorton ground on Saturday 1st October.