CLEVE renewed their rivalry with old adversaries Keynsham with a 26-10 win at the Hayfields.
Years ago Keynsham were usually the opening game on Cleve’s fixture list as many veterans at the game, mostly over-60s, observed.
Keynsham are a well-established club at this level, having been in the Regional 2 Tribute Ale Severn league for a number of years.
But Cleve showed no deference to their visitors’ reputation, and promptly applied pressure from the outset.
This came at a cost as Lewis Beer, who has been outstanding in previous matches, went off with a hamstring injury.
Cleve supporters and players hope his absence will be brief.
Cleve continued to camp out in Keynsham’s 22.
Once the forwards had recycled the ball, Harry O’Donnell joined the back line and powered his way across the try line, with Matthew Jarvis stepping up and, as usual, kicking the conversion to put Cleve 7-0 up after 10 minutes.
Keynsham stepped up and retrieved the ball from the kick-off, moving along the backs and scoring an unconverted try to make the score 7-5.
Cleve were now fighting to achieve ascendancy.
Archie Staples found himself in possession of the ball after a 50-yard drive, outstripped the defenders and went over to score.
Now 14-5 up, Cleve took control and passed the ball efficiently across the field.
Eventually the ball went wide and Arthur Davis scored but with 30 minutes on the clock, Cleve went down to 14 men after a yellow card.
However this did not stop them from keeping the pressure on Keynsham. Again, movement of the ball gave the centres space and allowed Liam McGrath to score.
Cleve were now cruising and the score at half time was 26-5.
The second half saw Cleve feel the pressure. They lost a player after a bust-up on the wing, and had to play the rest of the game with just 14 players.
For 20 minutes they stopped Keynsham scoring, spending much of their time near their own line, before the visitors went over for another unconverted try to take the score to 26-10.
Cleve continued to fight hard defensively and compete fiercely at rucks and mauls. With a lack of numbers in the backs, they had to spread wide and cover Keynsham’s attacking backline.
This resulted in a tremendous defensive effort and when the team reached the end of the game there was a sense of pride and satisfaction of a job well done.
Cleve followed up with a 35-15 win away at Wooton Bassett, with tries from Harry O’Donnell, Will Callaghan, Theo Garnett and Matt Lane, who scored two.
The result kept Cleve are riding high in the league, in third place ahead of two home fixtures in late November.
Stephen Bateman