1st XV Squad: Tom Brewer, Henry Oughton, Jack Houlder, Tom Bendall, Adam Skyner, George Burnie, Jakob Harding, Will Tobin, Sam Hygate, Matt Carr, Pat Dore, Alex Lee, Sam Brewer, Luke Jagger, Arthur Mills, Dougal Broom, Matt Bailey, Tom Cole

Match Report:
The 1st XV were delighted to welcome back from injury Vice-Skipper Pat Dore and Luke Jagger in this return fixture vs Berry Hill RFC, where way back in September Es scraped a win away in the Forest of Dean thanks to a last gasp try from Tom Cole (24-28).
Es were hoping that home advantage would see a more convincing performance and indeed Es started the game with a high level of intensity and a couple of early cross field kicks frustratingly eluded Luke Jagger and were not converted into points. Good early involvement from Will Tobin and Adam Skyner helped set the scene and the line out was working well but elsewhere across the park a few looked a bit ring rusty which led to a few frustrating mistakes early on. Eventually however the Es pressure paid off when Luke Jaggers weaving run saw him hauled down just inches from the try line but great support from Tom Brewer saw him scoop the ball up and fall over the line for a good Es try with Sam Hygate adding the 2 extras (7-0). Some good handling from Es across the whole of the pitch eventually saw Es with an 8m line out within the BH 22 area. A good catch and drive saw another impressive try from Jack Houlder, which Sam Hygate converted (14-0) - (Sam’s kick was well caught by linesman Frank the Tank behind the posts!!).
Arthur Mills was starting to show some excellent footwork with a couple of dinky runs and a kick through just went dead! At the 20 minute point Berry Hill started to grow in confidence, however Es were having none of it and after a great scrum taking one against the head on the half way line the Es backs advanced and an impressive Sam Brewer stole through the defensive line beating several players to score with Sam Hygate again adding the conversion (21-0). A final first half effort involving both forwards and backs, saw Luke Jagger fighting off several Berry Hill players to almost score but that’s the way it ended for half time.
Half Time
Tom Cole & Dougal Broom on. The Es Defence had to be on guard early on in the second half as Berry Hill came out of the blocks rather smartish looking to get back into the game and indeed they were rewarded soon after with a penalty and drive which saw their heavier forwards drive over the line to score a converted try (21-7). Unfortunately Luke Jagger limped from the pitch with hopefully just a precautionary action to avoid further damage to his strapped up leg. Es responded well to this and again looked like scoring through another Sam Brewer run. Es then went down to 14 men as Adam Skyner picked up a Yellow Card for a slightly late tackle (a bit like British Rail). Sam Brewer’s presence and strong running in midfield then gave E’s the Bonus Point try they were looking for with Sam driving over out on the left wing. Sam Hygate's conversion kick unfortunately hitting the bar (26-7). Shouts from former Skipper Alex Potts aloft in the Dave Perkins Stand called for Es to look after the ball better as we entered into a scrappy part of the match. A great Tobin run beating at least three defenders should have led to a try with support either side of him he chose to hold onto the ball and was well tackled before he could release a pass if indeed he (or his dad!) in such a try scoring opportunity would ever consider!! The messy period of play continued and play moved to and from with neither team capitalising. A second Yellow Card from a very impressive young Referee this time went to Berry Hill. Arthur Mills and Tom Cole combined well to move Es into a threatening position. A 5m penalty quickly take by Tobin saw him stopped short of the line. A second 5m penalty was kicked to touch and from the resulting line out Es forwards drove over the line, this time with Henry Oughton claiming the glory by scoring another good forwards try, not converted (31-7) and that’s the way the match ended, a good but not impressive performance that saw Es move back up to 6th in the league with two games in hand. The next fixture is in 2024 on 6th January when Es travel to take on Bream RFC - see you there!