CLEVE RFC’s promotion campaign ended with defeat in their second Regional 2 Severn play-off away to Chippenham.
Following a hard-fought win over Keynsham, the match was played in bright sunshine in front of a large and boisterous crowd.
Play followed a similar pattern to the two league games, with both sides playing attractive attacking rugby, with very physical defence.
Cleve opened the scoring on five minutes, with a try from Henry Williams after a Chippenham attack broke down just outside their 22; Matt Jarvis converted.
The home side quickly struck back, with a converted try from a driving maul following a lineout. Following pressure from Cleve, Matt Lane scored a try wide out, with the conversion missed.
Chippenham then scored a converted try following a penalty on Cleve’s 5m line and quickly followed this with another converted try on 20 minutes. The next try was scored and converted by Matt Jarvis, after excellent interplay by Cleve forwards and backs.
After 30 minutes the score was 21-19 to Chippenham and the game was very competitive and close.
However the home side then scored three converted tries before half-time, to build up a 42-19 lead and leave Cleve facing a huge task in the second half.
Cleve attacked from the kick-off and put the home side under pressure. Josh Davis and Theo Garnett scored tries and Matt Jarvis converted both, bringing the score after 55 minutes to 42-33 and all to play for.
However it was not to be Cleve’s day: Chippenham scored a further two tries and a conversion, plus a penalty, to make the score 57-33 after 68 minutes.
Cleve then scored a push over try from their dominant pack, which Jarvis converted, but Chippenham had the final say with an unconverted try to end the game with a 62-40 win. They went on to beat Tiverton in the next round before losing the final to Chew Valley.
This has been an outstanding season for a relatively young Cleve side, who gained promotion to this league last season and achieved success against established clubs, finishing third and losing just four games all season, with two of those against runaway league winners Trowbridge.
On the way, huge wins of 93-0, 110-5 and 113-7 were the standout results, helping Cleve become top scorers in the league with a massive 1,109 points and only 418 conceded.
Matthew Jarvis’s kicking was outstanding all season, scoring a record 329 points from only 20 games.
Massive thanks to the coaches, players and supporters. We can look forward to next season – onward and upward!
Lyn Smith