CLEVE welcomed league leaders Trowbridge to the Hayfields for a top-of-the-table clash in January.
They had a new player, Ben Robinson on the roster and were playing in front of a record crowd.
Cleve started the game well. For the first 15 minutes they dominated possession and pinned Trowbridge in their half.
Trowbridge are a strong team and went into the match unbeaten. Their strength is in their defence, and their forwards toughed it out with Cleve.
Cleve’s continual pressure led to a penalty on 30 minutes.
Matt Jarvis slotted it over, but Trowbridge then went into Cleve’s 22 and scored a converted try.
Cleve continued to pound Trowbridge and gained a penalty on half-time, but a wild mistake led to the Trowbridge Number 8 picking up the ball and scoring, to make it 14-3 to Trowbridge.
After the break Cleve carried on as they had before. Good movement of the ball wide saw Ben Robinson pick up and go over, to make the score 10-14.
The game was going Cleve’s way and a Trowbridge player got a yellow card, with Cleve in their 22, pressuring the line.
Trowbridge continued to show tremendous resolve in defence but eventually gave away a penalty that Jarvis slotted over, to make it 13 to 14.
The visitors responded by going forward to score again. Cleve were desperate to get back into the game and from a planned move went into the attack, with Liam McGrath going over.
The game was in the balance at 20 to 21 but in the dying minutes, Trowbridge again went from defence to attack and scored another converted try, to make the final score Cleve 20, Trowbridge 28.
Cleve’s last game of 2025 was a crushing 70-7 win over Old Centralians.
Starting with total resolve, a penalty allowed Jarvis to kick to the corner and the resulting lineout used Cleve’s catch and drive, with Marshall Stevens taking advantage and going over. Moments later, after superb interplay between forwards and backs, Harry O’Donnell crashed over to make it 14-0.
The intensity of Cleve’s forward play was outstanding, and wing Archie Staples made a great dummy before scoring out wide.
A blip saw OCs intercept a pass in the centre and score to make it 21-7 but Cleve became ruthless in their execution, and added two more tries to make it 35-7 at the end of the half.
After the break some aggressive rucking saw Will Warman break a big toe, so he had to go off.
But the tide was relentless, with Matt Lane, Liam McGrath, Ben Robinson and Archie Staples all scoring, Staples’ try ending the game after a well-timed pass by Jarvis.
Steve Bateman